Development of Personalized Assistive Technology to Improve Dementia Care at Home

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant This Fast Track SBIR application submitted by SimpleC of Atlanta Georgia requests funds to test our current behavior management technology for persons with dementia PWD the SimpleC Companion and to develop and test a new mobile tablet the SimpleC Wellness Coach in the in home aging in place market where the overwhelming majority of PWD receive their care SimpleCandapos s highly personalized human customer service and advanced wireless computing network enable the creation and delivery of meaningful care interventions on a large cost effective scale Currently the Companion is a stationary all in one computer touch screen that delivers personalized care interventions andapos care showsandapos to PWD in assisted living and dedicated memory care units in long term care facilities The focus is on ameliorating common behavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms identified by caregivers such as apathy aggression and trouble with ADL Our technology based approach grew out of applying a mix of tested psychosocial intervention methods such as reminiscence music reality orientation and simulated presence or andapos trusted voiceandapos using a digital media presentation that when customized to the individual clientandapos s preferences and needs resulted in positive behavior change Our proprietary system relies on personalized rather than generic media to elicit engagement in users In distinct contrast to generic one size fits all media based products SimpleC assistive technology includes frequent individual engagement testing with the customized care shows Unique to our product is the ability to process Companion usage patterns to feed back to the system in order to continuously refine care offerings and adjust to the changing demands of a progressive neurodegenerative disease In early outcome assessments caregivers reported reduced caregiver burden and improved quality of life QOL after using the Companion In Phase I we will test the usability and early efficacy of the Companion to establish proof of principle in a new care environment the private home and define design iterations for the mobile Wellness Coach In Phase II we will design and test a mobile Wellness Coach prototype that is user friendly for senior couples aging in place with and without dementia and build beta units to test for usability and efficacy in a pilot randomized control trial with a range of disease severity conditions and a range of caregiver arrangements in order to evaluate the product with non spouse caregivers The main goal of the pilot efficacy study is to generate early outcome data on reducing behavior problems in the PWD and to measure caregiver burden and QOL in the home in the clinical population of interest Plans for Phase III commercialization include scaling up the network and customer service capabilities expanding our market distribution system to include home care services providers and other companies that work with PWD and expanding the functionality of the mobile tablet to start serving clinical populations with cognitive impairment following stroke and traumatic brain injury SimpleC has developed a wireless media based behavior management technology to improve the quality of life and independence of Americans with Alzheimerandapos s disease and related dementias as well as reduce the care burden for nearly million family caregivers This research will test the desktop SimpleC Companion and a new mobile tablet device the SimpleC Wellness Coach in the aging in place in home market