E-Health Digital
Enhancing Dementia Care Through Interactive Assessment
E-Health, a Swansea-based company, is focused on improving support for those caring for people with dementia and other age-related conditions. Recognising that dementia affects more than just memory—impacting senses and cognition as well—the company sought to create an iPad app to help assess areas in which individuals with dementia might face difficulties in daily life.
What Did We Do?
The E-Health project’s aim was to support carers of individuals with dementia by developing an iPad app that assesses cognitive and sensory challenges beyond memory loss. The goal was to create a tool that could help identify areas where individuals might struggle with tasks like reading, recognizing objects, and linking words to images. The app needed to be user-friendly, with a simple design, large buttons, and minimal interactions to suit elderly users.
How Did We Do It?
In collaboration with E-Health, CEMET developed a series of mini-games in Unity to test users’ abilities in key areas. The app includes activities to assess perception by locating objects in a scene, evaluate how different colours and sounds affect reading, test memory through image location recall, and measure comprehension by linking words to images.
The early prototype delivered valuable insights. Some users were startled by certain colours in the reading test, while complex images caused discomfort, indicating sensory sensitivities. In the perception test, users often recalled object locations based on previous images rather than clear vision, leading to plans for further refinement. Users responded positively, enjoying the interaction and providing feedback on their dementia experiences, with many highlighting how challenges beyond memory loss affected their daily lives.
The app is in continuous development, E-Health plans to add more varied tests while keeping the interface simple. The goal is to make life more comfortable for those with dementia by guiding carers with personalised suggestions and eventually bringing this innovative tool into care homes.
This project is jointly funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund and Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) the Academic-Industry Partnerships programme, part of the Cluster Development and Growth Programme.
