Cork duo develop an app to help those living with dementia connect with loved ones 

Two young members of UCC’s Entrepreneur Society have developed an app that challenge the stigma around dementia and helps people connect through memories.

Niamh Murray and Amy Boyden, who created the 'Forget me Not' app.

Two young Cork entrepreneurs have developed an app which uses memories to help people with dementia connect with their loved ones.

Amy Boyden, 25, and Niamh Murray, 22, were passionate about helping people with dementia after seeing family members live with the illness.

They have launched their Forget Me Not app (www.forgetmenotapp.ie), which uses reminiscence therapy to stimulate memory and mental activity, often by using prompts like images and sound.

The pair, who first met while studying law in University College Cork, want to challenge the stigma around dementia and help people connect through memories.

They happened to sit next to each other at UCC’s Entrepreneur Society and from that first meeting, they began developing the concept for Forget Me Not.

“We were both quite passionate about this issue. I would go to visit my grandmother and she would not know my name. But I used to sing her a song The Town I Left Behind and she’d sing every word with me,” Niamh said.

“Although there can be much sadness around memory loss, there are triggers, like a song, that can bring back some memories and help people connect.”

Amy’s stepmother, Ellen, also suffered from Alzheimer’s.

“She’d still remember my birthday. She remembered music and stories. Talking about the past rather than the present can be very helpful,” Amy said.

“Forget me Not encourages people to talk about the past to connect with the present.

“We both understand that it is challenging to talk with those with the illness and we decided to create something that would aid this.

“Our app aims to aid communication between you and your loved ones who are living with Alzheimer’s and Dementia through the use of reminiscence therapy,” Niamh said:

“We made sure the app was very user-centred. When you download it, it gives you a code that you can share with others so everyone — families, loved ones, carers — can all log onto the one account.” 

 The Alzheimer Society of Ireland estimates that some 55,000 people live with a form of dementia. That number is estimated to grow to 141,200 people in Ireland by 2050.

Worldwide, an estimated 55m people currently live with dementia.

The app allows reminiscence therapy to help individuals with Alzheimer’s or Dementia remember events and people from earlier on in their lives.

Reminiscence therapy

Research, particularly into the benefits of reminiscence therapy, was also central to the project.

“Reminiscence therapy helps individuals with Alzheimer’s or Dementia remember events and people from earlier on in their lives. With our app, it encourages you to talk about the past rather than the present,” Amy said.

The app can store photos, music and voice recordings so that everyone in the person’s group all have access to and can contribute to the same content.

“Music is linked to Spotify and people can leave voice recordings of someone reading out a favourite poem, just hearing a loved one’s voice can be so soothing,” Amy said.

Talking to people with dementia and medical professionals while developing the app made Amy question the language often used around dementia and Alzheimer’s.

“I never say someone ‘suffers’ with Alzheimer’s now. I say they ‘live’ with it.

“That’s from talking to people with Alzheimer’s and medical professionals and finding out what they need.

“We want people to realise that people with dementia have not lost all their memories and with the right supports, people with dementia can continue to grow.

“We want to challenge the stigma around it and help people stay connected for longer.”