Revealing innovative solutions

Five innovative solutions have been developed to help people living with dementia, following an invitation from the Design Council in partnership with the Department of Health, to create products and services that make life easier and more enjoyable for people with the condition and their carers.

The solutions focus on and around the point of diagnosis, with the aim of being preventative measures that improve the quality of life in the early stages of the disease. They are:

• Trading Times, an online service that matches carers with local businesses for flexible paid work.  The Trading Times website will have a full range of tools and templates to assist both carers and employers.       
• Ode, a fragrance release system designed to stimulate appetite among people with dementia.  The mains powered unit releases three food fragrances a day, and is adjustable to coincide with the user’s mealtimes.
• Grouple, a secure private online social network helping people share the responsibilities of caring for someone with dementia.  
• Dementia Dog, a service providing assistance dogs to people with dementia, helping them lead more fulfilled, independent and stress free lives. 
• Buddi, a wristband personal alarm that people will be happy to wear and can send alerts from anywhere to Buddi’s support services. 

The teams behind the solutions won a share of £360,000 plus professional support to help them develop their ideas.

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