Living better with dementia

A digital service to promote procedural memory

 

Just under 1M people in the UK are living with dementia. 1 in 2 people will be affected in their lifetime by this life-altering disease

For people living with dementia, this means letting go of their independence and entering a world that is confusing, frustrating and in some respects humiliating. For their loved ones this is an unforeseen burden they now carry with little support or reassurance.

Instinctively focuses both on the person living with dementia and their primary carer, creating a solution which is mutually beneficial to make living with dementia an easier-to-manage experience.

BIMA Awards Winner – Trailblazer & Social Good

Our work on Instinctively won 2x BIMA Gold awards, recognising the impact the role of design has had in support of the Alzheimer’s Society.

Testing the proof-of-concept with volunteers in their homes

Our progress so far..

Alzheimer's Society Innovation Fund Accelerator Winner

2x Rounds of product validation

2 gold & 1 bronze BIMA awards

Personal, adaptable, life-changing

Instinctively addresses the loss of autonomy faced by individuals with dementia and the significant burden on their carers. Our product supports daily living by embedding routines into memory, using discreet, adaptive technology that integrates location-based recognition and personalised sensory cues. This system not only facilitates habit formation for those with dementia through wearable devices that provide timely and contextual prompts but also enables carers to collaboratively customise these routines to the individual’s preferences. By making daily tasks more manageable, it aims to reduce confusion and enhance independence.

What's next for the project?

The Alzheimer’s partnership ended with validating a working proof of concept product with end users — both people living with dementia and their carers. The next stage for Instinctively is to seek further support to advance the product to an open beta launch. During testing, we also identified other audiences that could benefit from the product, so we have been seeking to validate the idea with those groups. We hope that Instinctively can launch and help extend independence among people living with dementia. Get in touch if you’d like to hear more or are interested in getting involved in the project.

Insights

Behavioural change for good

Read how we’ve applied behavioural change principles and the MINDSPACE model to our product thinking, both in R&D and for our clients, to ensure that adoption and ongoing use is a natural part of the product experience.

Interested in hearing more about Else R&D?

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