Empowering the Elderly and the Cognitively Disabled

About two percent of Europe’s aging population—1.9 million people—suffer from mild dementia. In recent studies, people with dementia have commonly identified several unmet needs, including information (for example, regarding treatment or support), communication, and help for memory problems and psychological distress. With the European Commission’s support, the COGKNOW project is attempting to address these needs, particularly by involving individuals with dementia for the entire project. In practice, we aimed to help people navigate their day by helping them remember important daily activities, maintain social contact, perform daily activities, and feel safer. Our overall goal is to use contextual information and wireless and mobile device technologies, including locationbased services, to create a cognitive prosthetic prototype—a portable, configurable device that people with mild dementia can use in their homes or wider community. Existing devices and services have had mixed success when applied to actual living conditions among aging people with mild dementia. We seek to address these issues by involving individuals with dementia closely in the prosthetic’s design and implementation. The first user interactions began in November 2006 in Sweden, Northern Ireland, and the Netherlands. David Craig (Belfast City Hospital and Queen’s University of Belfast), Ferial Moelaert (Telematica Instituut), and Tony Scully (Luleå University of Technology) also contributed to this project. For more information, contact Maurice Mulvenna at [email protected]. uk or see www.cogknow.eu.