MindMate – An app based platform empowering people with dementia
MindMate is an award-winning App that has been designed to provide an assistance platform for people with dementia, their carers and family-members. The App has been designed and optimised specifically for older people and is being used by thousands of people worldwide.
The App promotes self-management for people with dementia and provides peace of mind for carers.
MindMate helps me to handle my life much better. It has all these great tools to make me more independent!
Dementia costs the UK economy approximately £26 billion per year.
Caring for a dementia patient can be very stressful and challenging. On average, a family carer provides 39 hours per week of care.
The aim of the App is to engage the patient and help keep their mind active, facilitating the retention of their memories and, by connecting the family, it enables the sharing of information with the carer.
The MindMate App is aimed at patients having a diagnosis of early stage dementia, their family and their carers. It also has been successfully deployed in the care home environment.
The MindMate App aims to empower those who would otherwise feel powerless. It currently provides 3 different products:
- MindMate for patients living with dementia, to help them live more independently and to provide stimulation in a safe, fun and interactive way;
- MindMate Family, to provide family members with a greater peace of mind by actively tracking and monitoring their loved ones; and
- MindMate Pro for care facilities, to enable care home staff to deliver real person-centred care.
The App is available free of charge for people living with dementia, and a subscription is charged to carers and care homes for the enhanced versions of the App.
MindMate Ltd has to date achieved more than 45,000 active users and it is also being used by several care homes in the UK and USA.
Moreover, since November 2015, the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has been using the MindMate App in the post-diagnosis support group, in care homes, in day care centres, and in the community.
In January 2016, MindMate Limited began a collaborative project with Age UK and with the Smartlab in Sheffield, involving a UK wide start-up competition focussing upon “living independently” and “energising Sheffield city centre.” The result of this is that MindMate Limited will run a pilot study in the city, together with the city council, charities and the NHS.
MindMate Limited has been provided with support from partners in The Innovation Pathway including NHS Innovations North and Dementia Care, providing strategic business support and connections to expertise support provision from the NHS England Technology Enabled Care advocates and a care home specialising in dementia care.
The App has achieved second place in the iTunes App store for health and well-being Apps, with over 200,000 downloads but, most importantly, over 45,000 active users.
It will enable better self-management of patients, resulting in the requirement for fewer care interventions and addressing problems of social isolation and loneliness. As a consequence, the patient can potentially continue to receive care in their own home for longer.
Following a successful launch in the UK, the MindMate team is now seeking to increase awareness of their App across Europe and they have recently been developing the App for the care home market in the USA.
MindMate helps me to deliver real person-centred care. It has such great features and makes my life as a carer even more rewarding!