There are 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, with tendencies raising to 1 million by 2025.

For those who are in the early stages of the disease, stay independent is paramount. But they struggle to deal with their daily routine writing down post it notes, diaries and lists to remind them what to do.

However, they forget to complete all the steps any daily task demands. Like taking their medicine or lunch preparation. Relatives can support them occasionally, but they also have their own life. A full-time carer could be a solution, but it’s not affordable for the majority.

My Carer, a skill for Alexa that sets up a routine for people living in the early stages of dementia. It’s function not only reminds them what to do, but also guides them, step by step, until they’ve accomplished their daily tasks. From reminding them on how to take the medication, to how to prepare their lunch. The skill asks them if they’ve completed their task, and if not, it will remind them to do it once and once again, until the task is finished. If a patient doesn’t reply to the skill, a notification will be sent to a relative.

It also collects data about how long it takes for a patient to reply, how much the skill is repeating instructions, etc. This data is helping to tailor the skill according to each patient needs thanks to AI, but also helps Alzheimer’s Society to study behaviour and cognitive functions.

By looking at previous researches made by Alzheimer Society and interviewing tons of people living with dementia, we discovered that those who are living in the early stages of dementia wants to stay independent.

“Because Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia can make it difficult to learn new things; using established, consistent routines can be calming and reassuring, for both the person with dementia and those around her” *.

This is the reason we’ve decided to use routines at the heart of our skill. During the developing process we’ve been working closely with people living with dementia and had many rounds of focus and test groups to adjust our product to their needs. The skill became flexible enough to help different patients, in different situations, with their own personal needs.

* https://www.verywellhealth.com/using-routines-in-dementia-97625

Through the app/website, the carer or even the person living with dementia, can customize a whole routine with instructions step by step.

At the time scheduled, Alexa sends a voice notification to let the patient know there’s a new task to do. The skill supports the person with interactive guidance and verifies that each step is done until the task is completed.

When using Alexa Show, the user can even add visual instructions to make the steps even clearer.

In case the patient, hasn’t replied to the skill or finished the task; My Carer will send a notification to a relative or a caregiver to let them take action about.

The skill supports customizable tasks such as setting the time to take medicine, guiding on how to prepare lunch, cognitive training based on their personal life, getting ready for appointments and music therapy.

Only in the first 6 months after its launch, My Carer registered users from over 25 countries, and over 1000 patient activations. A task completion rate of over 70% (with reminder acknowledgements reaching 90%). *Source: Alexa Analytics and Google Analytics.

My Carer also inspired Financial Times to write the article ‘Dementia kit: tech leads the charge to protect people’s independence’, where aside from featuring the skill, it recognizes that with clever use of technology, the UK could save £100bn in the next 15 years. This demonstrates that repurposing Alexa as a health and research tool, not only has direct impact in the people living with dementia, but also, a positive impact in the healthcare system and consequently in the economy.