Improving quality of life for people 65 and over living with dementia using a personalised memory game application.

Introduction: Dementia presents a major challenge for health care systems with aging populations. Over 46 million people live with dementia worldwide and is estimated to increase to 131.5 million by 2050.[1] Diagnosis is important as it allows people with dementia (PWD) to get treatment, care and support to help them manage their condition. However, during the early stages of dementia much of the care occurs at home carried out by an informal/non-professional carer. There is a growing need for an evidence-based approach to home support for people with dementia and their carers.

Methods: Sixty volunteers will be randomised into two groups with a 2:1 intervention to control allocation ratio. The app developed by Memory Lane Games, will present images with associated questions in the form of a quiz. The non-personalised app will have 12 games based on general topics, such as geographic locations or food, which cannot be altered. The personalised app will allow the PWD to upload their own images and search the app database for games of their choice. All participants will be asked to use the app at least once a week for six months. Quality of life (QoL) and communication will be assessed at baseline, week 13 and week 26. Semi-structured interviews will be administered at week 13 and week 26.

Results: The app emulates key features of reminiscence and distraction therapy, both of which have been shown to improve communication between the PWD and their carer, as well as improve their QoL.[2] Therefore the hypothesis is that engagement with the personalised content may lead to an improvement in QoL for both PWD and their carer, and also facilitate communication.

We aim to have the interim (week 13) results by the time of the International Conference on Integrated Care 2022.

Conclusions: By increasing face-to-face engagement between the PWD and their carer via the app, there may be a positive benefit to the PWD and/or their carers.

Implications for applicability/transferability, sustainability and limitations: This randomised control trial (RCT) will test the feasibility of future studies and examine the direction of effect on QoL and communication. If the results are promising, the app has scope to be distributed across the world. It may also have the potential to be tailored towards neurodivergent people, such as people diagnosed with autism.

As the app is digital, it requires access to an electronic device able to run the app, as well as internet connection. Some people may not be able to afford a device and/or may not have internet access.

References

1. Prince M, Wimo A, Guerchet M, Ali GC, Wu YT, Prina M. World Alzheimer Report 2015: The global impact of dementia: an analysis of prevalence, incidence, cost and trends. United Kingdom: Alzheimer’s Disease International; 2015. [cited 2021 18 Nov]. Available from: https://www.alz.co.uk/research/WorldAlzheimerReport2015.pdf

2. Cotelli M, Manenti R, Zanetti O. Reminiscence therapy in dementia: A review. Maturitas 2012;72(3):203-205. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2012.04.008