Apps

[alanstitch]

Hi,

My mother in law has gone into a care home. We've created photobooks and tried to visit as much as we can.

I'm just curious if there's any apps that allow you to share pictures and keep updated that we could look into?

I know the care home themselves will have to control this - it's a small home and the manager has said they're open to looking at whats available. I said I would do some resarch.

Any suggestions? or Recommendations?

 

[Louise7]

Hi @alanstitch and welcome to Dementia Talking Point. My mum's care home is using a system (personcenteredsoftware) that is used by the staff, via hand held devices, to record the care plan and care and activities provided on a daily basis. It's not an app but has an extra add-on facility called the Relatives Gateway which allows relatives to log in remotely anytime, via PC or mobile phone, to see how their relative is doing and what care has been given, and also has the facility to upload photos plus send messages directly to the care team. This was useful during the pandemic and lockdown when relatives were prevented from visiting for long periods, although the information recorded is only as good as the person who inputs it! I've no idea how much something like this would cost but the details are here:

https://personcentredsoftware.com/en-gb/products/digital-care-system

https://personcentredsoftware.com/en-gb/products/digital-care-system/key-features/relatives-gateway

 

[StephanT]

I worked in tech until my mother was diagnosed, so I brought 25 years of IT when I started dedicating my life to understanding this disease and supporting her. I also helped set up and trialed some leading-edge solutions in a private care home.

You're on the right track. In this particular matter, what you need to do is the following:

a) set up a tablet with no particular sensitive information, no lock, no nothing, not even face recognition
This is because at first the patient will be able to use and login the tablet, but over time, they will lose interest in screens and you will rely on cognitive stimulation staff to present the tablet to your loved one.

b) link it up to a dummy account that you set up for the purpose of this exercise.
This is because you cannot expect any care home or nursing staff to do this for you, find pictures, relevant content, and culturally relevant information that could help support your loved one. Their job is to operate it, nothing more.

c) mirror the content using another device.
This works on both Google and apple ecosystem,s so that's 99.999% of tablets out there. Upload new pictures regularly. Upload movies to a Dropbox account and notify the care staff of the location of that folder. Install Spotify, and create playlists remotely so they can be played back locally.

I also recommend you install games (paid games, not free to play, as progression will not be sufficient to keep your loved one motivated). Things like puzzle games, memory games, etc. Make sure everything works offline (over time, the care home might disable or change the wifi password).

And very, very importantly: regularly remind the care staff that this tablet MUST be used as part of the cognitive stimulation program in their institution. Make it clear to the management if you have to, because staff changes over time, and this important tool might get lost in the staff rota.

PS: I understand my answer must sound highly regimented and a bit of a 'strange' response. But trust me; it's based on 7 years of experience with this illness.

 

[KarenW23]

I worked in tech until my mother was diagnosed, so I brought 25 years of IT when I started dedicating my life to understanding this disease and supporting her. I also helped set up and trialed some leading-edge solutions in a private care home.

You're on the right track. In this particular matter, what you need to do is the following:

a) set up a tablet with no particular sensitive information, no lock, no nothing, not even face recognition
This is because at first the patient will be able to use and login the tablet, but over time, they will lose interest in screens and you will rely on cognitive stimulation staff to present the tablet to your loved one.

b) link it up to a dummy account that you set up for the purpose of this exercise.
This is because you cannot expect any care home or nursing staff to do this for you, find pictures, relevant content, and culturally relevant information that could help support your loved one. Their job is to operate it, nothing more.

c) mirror the content using another device.
This works on both Google and apple ecosystem,s so that's 99.999% of tablets out there. Upload new pictures regularly. Upload movies to a Dropbox account and notify the care staff of the location of that folder. Install Spotify, and create playlists remotely so they can be played back locally.

I also recommend you install games (paid games, not free to play, as progression will not be sufficient to keep your loved one motivated). Things like puzzle games, memory games, etc. Make sure everything works offline (over time, the care home might disable or change the wifi password).

And very, very importantly: regularly remind the care staff that this tablet MUST be used as part of the cognitive stimulation program in their institution. Make it clear to the management if you have to, because staff changes over time, and this important tool might get lost in the staff rota.

PS: I understand my answer must sound highly regimented and a bit of a 'strange' response. But trust me; it's based on 7 years of experience with this illness.

@StephenT do you have any recommendations for paid for apps. My mum has an old iPad and then games she likes contain ads to download others so looking for recommendations. She likes colouring and solitaire/card games (moving (sp))

 

[Mojo-Jojo]

Hi, Looking for tips for advice about onscreen Solitaire games likely to last longest.

This is for lady living alone with early Alz/Vascular Dementia. Starting to struggle with using a laptop for "MS Casual Games Solitaire Collection" & "MS Mahjong" and similar free games on iphone7. She is getting confused and frustrated over the different formats, icons, pop up ads and is getting angry "people keep changing it". We needed to take laptop away last week for maintainance (would not update), sadly its not ready to return. This week she got very angry it was not returned and claims she uses it "everyday", is bored and cannot cope without it, and said she's "never played solitaire" on her phone. The previous week, it was "my card game has been moved on my phone, I can't find it", and "good I can see it fine on my phone now".

What is best way to check the laptop to see how often games are being used (she is no longer able to use it for anything else)?

Would it work out better to encourage her to play games on her phone, and to quietly 'retire' the laptop?

Any recommendations for safe games for iphone, without confusing ads, that won't run up big bills?

Thanks

 

[KarenW23]

My mum loves solitaire and mahjong and uses on her iPhone and iPad. I’ve decide to use the paid version rather than free to stop the ads and reduce the risk of her downloading something.

I’ve also found it easier to set up a family account in Apple. Added her as a shared user but set her account as a child so that she can’t download any paid for apps without my approval. I appreciate that sounds sad but it’s about her protection.

 

[Mojo-Jojo]

My mum loves solitaire and mahjong and uses on her iPhone and iPad. I’ve decide to use the paid version rather than free to stop the ads and reduce the risk of her downloading something.

I’ve also found it easier to set up a family account in Apple. Added her as a shared user but set her account as a child so that she can’t download any paid for apps without my approval. I appreciate that sounds sad but it’s about her protection.

Thanks Karen., sounds good advice. Was it easy to convert her phone from her oldappleID to the new account as a child? Do you have to wipe the phone and reset it all up. re-importing contacts etc? or is it more a quick logoff somewhere. We have little Apple experience, and only have an ipad with no sim card. Do you think we can set up this family account and manage everything necessary from that?

 

[StephanT]

@StephenT do you have any recommendations for paid for apps. My mum has an old iPad and then games she likes contain ads to download others so looking for recommendations. She likes colouring and solitaire/card games (moving (sp))

Hi sorry I just read this Karen!
So I found towards the time where my mum could still use her iPad, coloring games were the best bet. Sure the 'match three' games are attractive, but given they are designed to be very hard past a certain point, there was no point. So i started buying (since freemium is out of the question) games that were directed at at children, playing them in front of her to get her attention, and naturally she picked up the tablet and played.

Sadly, shortly after that she lost the ability and interest in using the tablet, so i cannot give exact recommendation as the tablet was subsequently formated, but there were at the time, quite a few cheap options that did the trick on the app store.

I'm sorry i cannot be of more help and wish you the best and the best to your loved one!

 

[try again]

You can remotely upload photos to an echo show if they have internet

 

[Mojo-Jojo]

We replaced the confusing modern laptop an old Windows 7 laptop with no internet connection, it comes with Solitaire (patience) and Mahjong. We altered it to turn on without a password, and put 4 large shortcuts on the desktop for the 4 games. It looks the same every day, (no updates, adverts, offers of game upgrades, or other confusing messages to try to close). So far it is working well. Complaints about games have stopped and one less thing to fix every visit! Lady does not play 'everyday' as claimed but its there when wanted.

 

[faengelm]

Hi,

My mother in law has gone into a care home. We've created photobooks and tried to visit as much as we can.

I'm just curious if there's any apps that allow you to share pictures and keep updated that we could look into?

I know the care home themselves will have to control this - it's a small home and the manager has said they're open to looking at whats available. I said I would do some resarch.

Any suggestions? or Recommendations?

I have used an Amazon Echo Show as a photo display that I can send photos from my iPhone. Here is a YouTube video