MemoryHome EN
Anchor memories for people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
Worldwide there are more than 50 million people suffering from dementia. This figure continues to rise alarmingly, so that it is a theme that should concern us all. 70% of the people with dementia still live at home and are cared for by family and friends. In this way, the condition affects the lives of three times as many helpers as it does patients. Dementia not only involves loss of memory but also loss of communication. MemoryHome offers a unique method to improve contact with people with Alzheimer's disease and other form of dementia.
For caregivers
Dementia is not only difficult for the patient, but also for the persons in his/her environment. (Informal) caregivers and family members are the shadow victims of this disease. MemoryHome aims to actively involve this target group and provide them with practical tools to use easily and effectively.
For care receivers
Sooner or later we are all confronted with dementia, directly or indirectly. Memory loss also implies ‘communication loss’. MemoryHome offers a user-friendly, scientifically-based and little time-consuming way to strengthen communication between people with dementia and their environment.
A new memory palace
A memory palace is an age-old technique in which you walk through a familiar route in your mind to study, to find your way or to memorize lists. MemoryHome offers a new memory palace. To remember loved ones for a longer time and to link them to memories and shared experiences.
The mechanism of a memory palace in three steps
In the memory palace technique (Method of Loci), visible objects are selected together with the person with dementia in his/her familiar environment (at home / residential setting), such as a table, tea cup, stove, painting or bed. These objects are linked to positive memories of loved ones. Subsequently, persons with dementia can walk this route of selected objects on a daily basis, by themselves or with assistance from their environment, helped by a caregiver, a friend, a grandchild…
About the app
MemoryHome is an easy-to-use application to help you strengthen your contact with people who are affected by Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. It is based on profound and thorough scientific research.
Using the MemoryHome app you can take people who are coping with Alzheimer’s or dementia on a walk through their familiar environment (their house, their nursing home etc.). While walking you invite them to tell positive stories about their loved ones, as you pass fixed objects on your trajectory to which these cherished persons are linked. The mobile app supports this process in a simple manner.
• Give memories a proper place and walk through them together.
• Help people with dementia to stay in their well-known environment for a longer time or prolong their feeling familiar with their surroundings.
• Stimulate finding new topics of conversation via a short, shared activity.
• Let people rediscover each other in surprisingly new ways.
Download the app in the App Store
You can buy the app immediately (one-off purchase) or else you can first test it free of charge but with a limited number of functions, so that you can assess its potential in your circumstances.
Getting started
The app is very intuitive and easy to use. To help you get going you can download our quick-start guide.
About the author
Kasper Bormans (1987) got his PhD at the Leuven School for Mass Communication Research (KULeuven). He is the author of the successful book ‘What Alz?’, inventor of the surprising 'Game of Imagination' and he develops virtual memory palaces for people with dementia and other techniques to improve communication. He also gives (internationally) valued lectures on these topics.
Lannoo Publishers
Uitgeverij Lannoo NV
Kasteelstraat 97
B-8700 Tielt
BE 0446.201.582
T. 32 (0)51 42 42 11
E. info@lannoo.be