Geriatrics: Project COGKNOW.
TOUCH SCREEN HELP FOR MILD DEMENTIA
Every teenager I know thinks his.her parents are demented.
Knows it for a fact.
But dementia is real, not just a derisive term for parents who don’t “get it”. And, when it happens, it’s always hard. Out, goes the fierce irascible mind you’ve known all your life replaced by hesitation and uncertainty. Someone who NEVER questioned his own decisions, sits around with a fixed stare, writing a science blog and calling himself MISTER ScienceAintSoBad.
Not to make light of it. Because it’s not at all funny when dementia is real.
The Cogknow Project ( Europe – Sweden, The Netherlands, Ireland) did a VERY cool thing.
Its problem: keeping people in the early stages of dementia independent. MISTER ScienceAintSoBad is very impressed by the smart way touch screen devices were deployed, giving confidence and purpose to those who would, otherwise, require full time human assistance.
Creating an effective interface for this population’s kinda impossible. At least, that’s what I THOUGHT till I saw this video.
This project goes in the “technology” bin here at Science Ain’t So Bad. So far, at least, no studies to prove it’s effectiveness.
So what? Not everything requires a peer reviewed article. Did you wait for one before you bought your cell IPhone or your Droid?
Cogknow’s work deserves funding and Science Ain’t So Bad hopes it happens.
