by Jen Brogan | 10th Jul 2024 | News
Around one in five dementia hospitalisations are due to potentially preventable causes
The UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI), in collaboration with the NHS, aims to conduct a new two-year study to prepare its digitally-enabled dementia care platform, Minder, to be integrated into health and social care services.
Funded by LifeArc, the study will enable digital care for people living with dementia while empowering the NHS and social care services to provide care of the highest quality in patients’ own homes.
Estimated to affect 944,000 people in the UK, dementia is a general term for the impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions that affects everyday life.
Developed by the UK DRI Centre for Care Research and Technology, Minder is a home monitoring platform that harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology and is integrated with public services to detect common problems, such as infections, earlier to prevent hospitalisations for people living with dementia.
Currently, around one in five hospitalisations of people living with the neurological condition are due to potentially preventable causes, including falls, neuropsychiatric problems or infection.
By detecting and addressing these problems early, hospital admissions can be reduced, providing benefits for both people with dementia and public services.
Following a successful pilot phase, the new study will prepare Minder for integration with existing NHS services, develop a new protocol for linking, data sharing and assessing the clinical, economic and patient benefits of the model, which is due to finish in April 2026.
Professor David Sharp, centre director, UK DRI Centre for Care Research and Technology, commented: “We’re now ready to put our innovative model to the test on a larger scale…. [to] enable more people with dementia to receive personalised, in-home support.”
LifeArc’s chief scientific officer, Dr Dave Powell, said: “AI and advanced digital platforms have the potential to revolutionise dementia care [and] the Minder platform will play a key role in allowing people with dementia to live independently in their own homes for longer.”