Target: Creating a medicine app for patients that have Dementia-related diseases.
*Dementia is a general term for impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions that
interferes with doing everyday activities.
Different diseases cause Dementia, each causing detrimental effects to the brain:
(Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation)
Basic symptoms of Dementia relevant to our goal:
● Experiencing memory loss, poor judgment, and confusion.
● Difficulty speaking, understanding and expressing thoughts, or reading and writing.
● Trouble handling money responsibly and paying bills.
● Repeating questions
● Using unusual words to refer to familiar objects.
● Taking longer to complete normal daily tasks.
● Losing interest in normal daily activities or events.
● Acting impulsively (Changes in mood)
● Dementia increases the chance of death as the disease can weaken the immune system
(Cite)
Demographics of Dementia Patients
-
55 million people worldwide live with dementia.
10 million new cases every year.
7th Leading cause of death among all diseases.
One of the major causes of disability and dependency.
Dementia has physical, psychological, social and economic impacts, not only for people
living with dementia, but also for their carers, familiesv and society at large. (WHO)
Age group of Dementia patients: and the entire of the world help and the entire of the
Dementia affects the majority of people over the age of 65. But the amount increases as the
ages get older. Some people under 65 are rare cases.
● Dementia is more prevalent at older ages, 3% of adults 70 to 74, 22% of adults 85 to 80,
33% of adults ages 90 and older in the US. (CITE)
Dementia patients around the world:
Since Dementia is an age-based disease, there is no country with abnormally high rates of
dementia patients per 100 thousand people. However, according to the World Health
Organization, over 60% of Dementia patients today are living in low and middle income
countries.
Rates of Dementia:
- Proportion of older people in the population is increasing in nearly every country. The
amount of people who have dementia is expected to rise to 78 million in 2030 and 139
million 2050.
Gender:
Women suffer Dementia more than women as the proportion of women to men is 2 to 1. This is
because the rate at which brain cells are dying is faster in women than men. (CITE)
Social and Economic Impact:
Dementia is expensive in terms of direct medical and social care costs, and the costs of informal
care. In 2019, estimated global societal cost of dementia was US$1.3 trillion. Expected to
surpass US$ 2.8 trillion by 2030 since both the number of people living with dementia and care
costs increase. (WHO)
Table 1.1: Cost of dementia per region and income leve tje oinkl.
From the above table, it can be seen that the total cost is a large majority of income especially
in the regions of the Americas, European, and Western Pacific region. Furthermore, it can be
inferred that treatments in some countries are paid by the government. However, in cases
where the government does not pay for treatment, the patient themselves usually can not pay
for the treatment since they would be out of work. They would be forced to use their savings or
have another relative pay for their treatment.
Impact on families and carers:
Informal carers are most commonly family members and friends. They spend an average of 5
hours per day providing care and people living with dementia. Physical, emotional and financial
pressures can cause great stress to families and carers, and support is required from the health,
social, financial and legal systems. 50% of the global cost of dementia is attributed to informal
care. (WHO)
Treatment and Care:
●
No cure to Dementia.
Current treatment and medicine is only used to slow down the progression of the disease.
Name of medicines used to cure Alaheimer’s diseases as this is the most common form of
dementia:
- Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors
- Donepezil (Severe)
- Rivastigmine (Moderate)
-
- Galantamine (Moderate)
Memantine
- Namenda (Moderate)
Medicines to treat related conditions (Vascular Dementia)
- stroke
- heart problems
- diabetes
- high blood pressure
- high cholesterol
- chronic kidney disease
- depression
At later stages of Dementia, a significant number of people will develop what are known as
“behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD)". Symptoms are:
- increased agitation
- anxiety
- wandering
- aggression
- delusions
- hallucinations
Usually the medicines that are taken for BPSD are:
- antipsychotic medications
- Risperidone
- Haloperidol
- Antidepressants are sometimes given if depression is suspected as an underlying cause
of anxiety.
Alternative remedies include (No evidence to say they are effective):
- Ginkgo biloba
- Curcumin
- Coconut oil
Treatment that do not involve medicines:
- Cognitive Stimulation therapy
- Cognitive rehabilitation
- Reminiscence and life story work
(NHS)
The Life of a Dementia patient:
●
Dementia patients have an uncontrolled emotional response. They may overreact, have
rapid mood changes, or feel irritable. Also seem unusually distant or uninterested in
things.
●
Hallucinations: some patients have extreme hallucinations which are very hard to
differentiate from real life. A patient with extreme hallucinations panic and makes poor
decisions. This can threaten their health and could also lose their belongings.
●
Some have caretakers that are with them at all times. However, those who are alone do
not have good judgment of their belongings and surroundings. They can often misplace
anything at a place and forget.
●
Nearly all Dementia patients are sad about their disease and feel guilty for being taken
care of. Moreover, this hurts them since they have limited ability to return the favor.
Dementia patients are allowed to work in the UK:
-
Not everyone quits their job.
Employers are required to make adjustments where possible to support you in your role.
The benefit for dementia patients working is that they might feel better physical and
emotionally.
In the UK, the equality act protects people suffering from dementia from discrimination.
- Employers are supposed to make ‘reasonable adjustments’.
- Flexible work hours.
- Moving work area somewhere quieter.
*A dementia patient who is working would have a different environment. Though we
could include this as a feature, we can assume that the number of people who are
working is very few. Also, I can not think of a feature which would include this.
How does a dementia patient cope?
In order for patients to continue to enjoy their life, they usually:
- Keep an active social life
- Regular exercise
- Continuing activities the person enjoys
- Finding new activities
Other things that can help include:
-
providing reassurance
a quiet, calming environment
activities that give pleasure and confidence, like listening to music or dancing
-
therapies, such as animal-assisted therapy, music therapy, and massage
These activities also reduce behaviors that are out of character.
Loneliness
One-third of people experience loneliness. 30% are moderately lonely and 5% are severely
lonely. (Data collected from the UK) and the em
Loneliness is a dangerous at an old age as it is linked with other diseases such as heart
disease, stroke, depression, cognitive decline, and early death.
*Since we will express a positive mood in our app, it would be good to have an
emergency contact or local Alzehimer centers.
Priority
Design Specifications
Justification
1st: Function
1.1: Reminder notifications and alerts
for medication intake
1.1: Dementia patients mentally
forget the time to take medicine.
App provides accurate notification
to alert the user to take medicine.
1.2: Customizable medication
schedules and dosage tracking
1.3: Clear and concise medication
information and instructions
1.4: Simple and intuitive user
interface
1.5: Compatible with iOS and
Android operating systems
1.2: Medicine are required to be
taken during certain times of the
day such as before and after a
meal. App must cater to this issue.
1.3: Name and Picture displayed for
the medicine so user is able to
know the correct medicine taken.
1.4: Simple and handholding
design interface to not
overcomplicate, stress, or burden
the user due to lack of
technological proficiency.
1.5: IOS and Android are the 2
most common operating systems
used everyday.
2nd: Target
Audience
2.1: Contrasting Text
2.1: Font color is contrasting to be
perceived better because some
2.2: Ability for caregivers and family
members to monitor and track
medication
users might have visual impairment
which is common at the age of
dementia.
2.2: Large majority of dementia
patients are under the care of
family members or caregivers who
often control their medication.
3rd: Aesthetics
3.1: Minimalism App Design
3.2: Soft Colors
3.1: Minimalism app design for
simplicity for the interface in order
to not over burden the user.
3.2: Soft colors to evoke emotions
of calmness and happiness.