08-23-2019, 01:21 PM | #16 |
Wizard
Posts: 3,305
Karma: 10259306
Join Date: May 2016
Device: kobo forma, Kobo Libra, Huawei media Tab, fire HD10, PW3 HDX8.9,
|
i have to question whether someone with dementia could read and understand reminders on a screen. Thinking back to my mum - she could not have coped with that.
We tried the low tech route of- a big whiteboard and dry-write pens in her kitchen which family could write reminders on when visiting, but it was not very successful - and that was with a classroom sized whiteboard! Maybe the reason that the ready made dementia solutions don't have them, is not that it can't be done, but that research and customer feedback taught them not to bother. From what I read, the reason analogue clock displays work is because that is what those people grew up with. They need solutions that stimulate childhood memories/pattern recognition that still works, even when they have lost the ability to learn new patterns - like digital time displays. So someone my age or older who did not grow up with electronic reminders may never adapt to using them. having said that, the feedback from Alexa/ Ok google in residential care homes was interesting. Maybe some sufferers can learn to ask Alexa what time is it and understand the response. Why not write to some of the sellers/suppliers on amazon saying l like your [ dementia clock/ calendar/ whatever] but do you have one that also does reminders? you may learn something from the replies and it costs nothing to ask. |
08-23-2019, 09:59 PM | #17 | |||
Wizard
Posts: 1,717
Karma: 25524616
Join Date: Sep 2017
Device: PW3, Fire HD8 Gen7, Moto G7, Sansa Clip v2, Ruizu X26
|
I appreciate all the suggestions and sharing of personal experience!
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
The problem I am trying to deal with right now is very specific. For the stage of dementia we're at, looking at a normal calendar that shows activities for a week or a month, combined with not knowing what day it is, leads to pretty bad confusion. Time is not an issue, it is day/date that is being forgotten. My attempts to help are to (1) Make it very easy and clear to see what day/date it is, and (2) cut back the length of the visible calendar to only one or two days (that automatically update) so that the person with dementia does not have to sort through a ton of entries to find the ones for the current day. Currently, abbreviations are still OK, but I suspect that soon that will get confusing. So I'm coding in display formats like "Friday, August 23" and not "Fri, Aug 23". BTW, there have been three Echo Dots with Alexa in use for two years now. It's easy to ask for the day and date ... once they remember to actually do that. They can also ask, "Alexa, what's on my calendar" or "Alexa, what's my next event." But after I set all that up two years ago, they have not done it, even once. But there have been lots of "Alexa, what is the weather?" and "Alexa, set an alarm for 8am". It's funny how some commands are remembered and used easily, and others seem impossible to remember. Just one of those dementia things I guess. Using the Dots to control her Fire TV (I set that up too!) saying something like "Alexa, Play Cheers" is spotty. Sometimes that is remembered, sometimes not. The biggest issue there was switching the TV input. There are like 3 HDMI inputs, some Component inputs, AUX inputs, antenna inputs ... that is almost impossible for a normal person to figure out, much less one with dementia. The last thing anyone supporting an elderly person wants to hear is "The TV is saying 'no signal' again!" I ended up buying a simple hardware A/B HDMI switch. A single pushbutton - push once to go from A to B, push again to go from B to A. So she uses that to switch from cable input to FireTV input. That works. Mostly. Being able to try different things to see what works, or alter things as the dementia worsens, is why I am leaning towards the more complex calendar design with a monitor and Raspberry Pi to drive it. Now I just have to work on keeping myself from getting dementia so that I can continue to be able to write programs like this! p.s. - The level of dementia I am trying to help with right now would be termed "moderate". The person is still in "independent living", but in a senior facility that provides meals, activities, maid service, 24 hour concierge, etc. Eventually "assisted living" may become necessary, and after that, possibly "memory care" (which is similar to the older term "nursing home", but targeted specifically at dementia, not just physical frailness - which usually goes along with it at the end). |
|||
08-24-2019, 01:37 AM | #18 |
Wizard
Posts: 3,305
Karma: 10259306
Join Date: May 2016
Device: kobo forma, Kobo Libra, Huawei media Tab, fire HD10, PW3 HDX8.9,
|
I think you are on the right track with writing your own...
alexa: in my own setup - samsung tv + FIRE tv, Alexa paired to fire tv, Alexa will turn on the tv and select the correct source - so will simply pressing home on fire TV remote. Much of that is down to how the TV maker has implemented CEC, and what else is connected e.g. my samsung goes nuts if I connect a chromecast, it learns that then forgets all about fire TV... i can manually use Fire TV still but I lose all the auto start/ auto select stuff Alexa needs a lot more work e.g. from memory "alexa play xxx on Fire TV" works ( and TV is turned on as a side effect, but "alexa turn on TV" gets you " I cant do that" Same with my xbox . I think "open Xbox" works but not " turn on Xbox" or maybe its vice versa- either way its takes 5 times as long as walking across he room and pressing the ON button ! With both Alexa and OK Google there's an acute shortage of verbs , and logic: - you" play" music - OK that's intuitive; you "play" a TV show? well ok but then some songs and shows share a name ;you "play" a device - really?? so you "open" a device??? - when was the last time you "opened" your TV ?. Oh and you also "play " an app or channel - Alexa " play you tube on Fire TV" - confused yet I am, & I don't even have dementia yet personally: I play music., I Watch TV, I open apps, I turn devices on & off. There's an obvious market for an Alexa dementa skill set, maybe linked to some customizable nurse name e.g. Alexa ask Nurse <Jane>" would invoke the skill which would then understand many permutations of time/ weather/calendar/date plus turn on radio / TV.... I wonder how hard it is to write your own skill ? Last edited by stumped; 08-24-2019 at 01:41 AM. |
08-28-2019, 05:17 PM | #19 | |
Non-Techy
Posts: 4,454
Karma: 15499273
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: WV---USA
Device: Samsung Cell Phone & Amazon Fires & Kobo eReaders
|
Quote:
|
|
08-29-2019, 11:34 PM | #20 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,717
Karma: 25524616
Join Date: Sep 2017
Device: PW3, Fire HD8 Gen7, Moto G7, Sansa Clip v2, Ruizu X26
|
Quote:
But once in her apartment, she is independent currently. Albeit having a bit of trouble sorting through a calendar and remembering what day it is. There are three published calendars at this senior center for a total of one to two dozen events to choose from each day. Of which she may be interested in only two or three of those. It is difficult, even for me, to flip through three calendars to see what to do, and what overlaps. People can still be independent with mild dementia. Some things - in this case a complex calendar - can be problematic though. I'm trying to help with the problematic things. Earlier, I mentioned the inability to use a modern touchscreen. Not many 90 year olds can do that, even if they don't have dementia. I finally implemented a 23" wall mounted screen driven by a Raspberry Pi that auto updates with the current days activities of interest, that have been culled from the much bigger daily calendar. Here's an example display. Imagine it on a large computer screen, where the time (in yellow) has numbers over 2 inches high, and that's what I ended up making: |
|
09-04-2019, 09:12 PM | #21 |
Non-Techy
Posts: 4,454
Karma: 15499273
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: WV---USA
Device: Samsung Cell Phone & Amazon Fires & Kobo eReaders
|
IF she has a TV in her apt the place she staying should have a Channel that it can be switch to so she can see whats happening.
|
09-05-2019, 12:20 PM | #22 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,717
Karma: 25524616
Join Date: Sep 2017
Device: PW3, Fire HD8 Gen7, Moto G7, Sansa Clip v2, Ruizu X26
|
They do. But the problem is, it lists all activities. That's maybe two dozen per day. And then they add in all the daily special choices on the dinner menus, birthday announcements, upcoming major events on future days, etc. It takes a good five minutes of more to watch a days activities scroll by. And to try and figure out which ones you are interested in, and write them down, is a real chore.
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Black Friday $35 Fire Tablet and $25 Fire Tv Stick | leebase | Kindle Fire | 10 | 12-29-2015 04:08 PM |
Trouble converting special kind of pdf | like00111 | Conversion | 7 | 07-30-2015 11:00 PM |
Keyboard shortcuts are disabled when Kind Fire is connected to calibre | ElMiko | Calibre | 5 | 12-26-2011 06:55 PM |
PRS-950 CASE - Cyber Monday special (900 case that fits) | gardenstate | Sony Reader | 5 | 11-29-2010 01:54 PM |
Special made ETSY case | drblam | Amazon Kindle | 4 | 03-09-2009 10:26 AM |