Expertise Center Dementia and Technology wins Longitude Prize Discovery Award on Dementia
The Expertise Center for Dementia and Technology (ECDT) has received the Longitude Prize Discovery Award for their latest project in dementia research, CUE-D. The research focuses on enhancing the support for Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) such as cooking, oral hygiene, or tidying up. These routine tasks can pose challenges for individuals with dementia, and technology may offer promising solutions. For instance, technology can assist users by recalling their progress during meal preparation and guiding them through the next steps when they lose track. Through subtle nudges, or “cues,” in the right direction, CUE-D strives to empower dementia patients to maintain their independence and confidence.
A working prototype
ECDT-initiators Wijnand IJsselsteijn and Rens Brankaert are excited about the prize. IJsselsteijn: “This Discovery Award gives us the opportunity to conduct research in this important area, and develop a working prototype that we will co-design with people with dementia themselves, and test in the field with our partners. It is an international project, led by prof. Arlene Astell from the University of Toronto, which also gives us the opportunity to work with renowned partners in the field of dementia and technology.” Brankaert adds: “It's also an international competition, which provides a great opportunity to accelerate a range of products, and thus provide people with dementia with a better quality of life. And at the end of the day, that's what it's all about."
The Discovery Awards
Discovery Awards are seed grants to help teams and individuals further develop their ideas for the Longitude Prize, a challenge worth £10 million to help solve the problem of antibiotic resistance. The program is run by Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation, with Innovate UK as funding partner.
The Longitude Prize on Dementia will drive the creation of personalised, technology-based tools that are co-created with people living with the early stages of dementia, helping them live independent, more fulfilled lives so they are able to do the things they enjoy.
Link to the Discovery Awards website: About the prize - Longitude Prize on Dementia
Dementia in the Netherlands
The number of people with dementia in the Netherlands will substantially increase to more than half a million by 2040 as a result of an aging population. Until 2050, the number of people with dementia will further increase to over 620,000. Globally, a similar trend is taking place; Alzheimer Disease International expects that as many as 135 million people will be living with dementia by 2050 worldwide, 16 million of them in Western Europe. There is insufficient care available for all these people - both in terms of professional care as well as informal care. People will also need to live longer at home. Here, together with our partners, ECDT is looking at the potential of technology to make a positive difference - both in relieving care, but also in improving the quality of life for people with dementia and their loved ones.