Are there any phone apps or services which help with the care process? Reminders, schedules, collaboration with others in the support network? Anything for that might help the sufferer themselves?
Are there any phone apps or services which help with the care process? Reminders, schedules, collaboration with others in the support network? Anything for that might help the sufferer themselves?
Remember all these gadgets etc. are only as good as the person using them.
If your sufferer cannot understand, and remember what they are for, then its not going to work.
Having a reminder to take medication on an iphone is all very well, until that item is put away in a drawer, in the dining room. (for days on end)
Bod
Yes, thats what I wanted to understand- i know the progression will be different in every case but there must be a period in the illness where technology can assist and keep them independent for longer? Give them some confidence?
In my experience, the understanding of what gadgets are for and how to use them are one of the first things to be lost as they are modern devices and as the memory goes further and further back the memory of them disappears. I remember the time when mum forgot about the TV remote and couldnt understand why there were no buttons in the front of her TV to change the channel - her memory had gone back to the time when TV remotes did not exist. She had a life-line button to go round her neck, but kept taking it off as she couldnt remember what it was for.
I think probably the best technology works to alert the carer about problems - trackers to show where they are and crash alarms if they fall, but I have no personal experience of these.
I think the problem is that we are so used to technology solving all our problems in our society that we feel that it will solve the problems for people with dementia. Unfortunately the dementia means that they very quickly cant use it and once they get to the stage of losing confidence no amount of technology will relieve their anxiety - what they need is someone around to reassure them.
Yes, thats what I wanted to understand- i know the progression will be different in every case but there must be a period in the illness where technology can assist and keep them independent for longer? Give them some confidence?
Anything for that might help the sufferer themselves?
My OH only wants to be able to make calls to 6 family members so my son and I spent the day setting up this all singing and dancing phone to disable all Apps, email, SMS, settings etc. to turn it into a phone that only makes calls, does nothing else but makes calls
I found an app that has 6 big buttons (on the start up screen) that you can put a picture of the person she wants to call so all she has to do now is to push the side button to turn it on, then tap a face to call, that's it, this is all that this phone will do, it will only call and receive calls to and from the 6 people that is on the phone now
It will not take calls from any other number that is not in her contact information, it will not accept e-mail or SMS messages and she can not change or add anything extra as the settings / options is protected by a password known only to myself and my son.
Well, after turning everything off my son and I looked at each other and said "Really" but when we gave it to my wife she was so impressed she cried
Basically she has a phone that has 6 pictures and when she taps a picture it immediately calls the person she wants to talk to