Innovation focus: innovative ideas to support people living with Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease

Appleyard Lees supports organisations that create or enable innovation that makes life better and is proud to be supporting the UK’s leading dementia charity, Alzheimer’s Society, as our charity of the year – an organisation striving to eliminate the devastating impact of dementia worldwide.

What is dementia?

Affecting an estimated 900,000 people in the UK today, dementia is a group of symptoms that can be caused by a range of different diseases that damage the brain and get progressively worse over time. Alzheimer’s disease is the most well-known type of dementia, but symptoms common to most other types of dementia include memory loss; confusion; problems with language and understanding; and behavioural changes.

Dementia is something that many people may have a personal experience of, but people living with dementia (people living with dementia and their carers) each experience the disease wildly differently. Symptoms of dementia occur in varying orders, with needs changing and developing over time. While most commonly associated with older people, dementia can affect younger people too. A dementia diagnosis under the age of 65 is less common and is referred to as “young onset dementia”.

Emerging technologies, digital tools and medical devices are at the forefront of innovative approaches aimed at supporting and making life that little bit easier for people living with dementia, as well as for healthcare professionals.

Supporting innovations to support people living with dementia

In partnership with Innovate UK, Alzheimer’s Society co-funds the Longitude Prize on Dementia, a £4.1 million international initiative aimed at identifying, driving and supporting technological innovations to support people living with dementia, in order to help to retain their independence for as long as possible. Delivered by Challenge Works, the Longitude Prize on Dementia has already awarded £1.9 million to innovative projects globally, since its inception in September 2022.

From augmented reality maps for the provision of personalised visual directions to maintain independence and assistive devices that monitor and provide hints for daily activities, to biodynamic lighting to ease symptoms of sundowning and game-like software to promote positive social experiences, the development of innovative tech solutions is being supported by the Longitude Prize on Dementia initiative.

The Alzheimer’s Society also directly fund an innovation team that co-create, search for, and accelerate, the best new and innovative solutions to provide help and hope for people living with dementia. Here we take a look at some of the UK-based innovations that are being developed and supported by Alzheimer’s Society’s innovation team:

• eargym

Designed to strengthen core auditory processing skills through immersive and interactive games, eargym is an innovative app that is committed to making better hearing accessible for all through credible testing, training, and support.

Research suggests that people who develop hearing problems between the ages of 40 and 65 have an increased risk of developing dementia.

eargym have filed a patent application (EP4329609) that relates to a method and device for the training and development of a user’s hearing skills. This appears to be potentially useful for improving hearing skills to lower the risk of developing dementia in later life, as well as to help people with early-stage dementia to maintain their independence for longer.

• Jelly Drops

Aiming to overcome dehydration challenges, Jelly Drops are innovative sugar-free sweets composed of 95% water, with added electrolytes and vitamins and designed to increase fluid intake in people with dementia. Staying hydrated may be difficult if a person with dementia is unable to recognise or communicate that they are thirsty, or if they forget to drink.

Boosting hydration through an edible sweet, can reduce the risk of complications associated with dehydration, such as heightened confusion, increased risk of falls, and reduced efficacy of medication.

Jelly Drops are solid which makes them easy to handle, and easy to break up in the mouth to provide hydration. This is a quick and simple solution for people with dementia or other cognitive issues who struggle with staying hydrated. Jelly Drops have several pending patents relating to the composition of the sweets (see, for example, GB2619165 and GB2622727) as well as multiple registered designs for the packaging.

• Sibstar

Successfully securing investment on the hit TV series Dragon’s Den, Sibstar has developed a flexible debit card and app tailored to assist families living with dementia. Sibstar’s technology ensures individuals with dementia can maintain financial independence, while offering families peace of mind that their loved-one’s finances are being well managed.

Sibstar has been designed to adapt to changing needs as dementia progresses. Sibstar has trade mark protection for their brand name, which helps to distinguish their unique solution from other banking cards and apps.

• pobroll®

A calming, waterproof bed bathing wrap, the pobroll® has been designed to make bed bathing a dignified and stress-free experience for those that require it.

As their dementia progresses, a person living with dementia may need more help with everyday activities such as washing, bathing, and dressing. The pobroll® supports more comfortable and dignified bathing for those experiencing washing and bathing challenges.

The pobroll® is designed to ensure optimum comfort and discretion and has been granted a patent for the product and method of use (GB2572691).

The future

Every three minutes, someone in the UK, develops dementia. It is expected that 1.4 million people in the UK will be living with dementia by 2040. It is also estimated that one in three people born in the UK today will later be diagnosed with dementia. Worldwide, around 50 million people are currently living with dementia.

With ongoing development, funding, and support of innovations to support individuals living with dementia, we hope for a brighter future for anyone affected by the disease.

If you are involved in developing new solutions and seek guidance on protecting your innovation or brand, please reach out to us for a complimentary and confidential discussion.