Customised Technology Solutions to Support People with Dementia and Related Disabilities
Dementia affects quality of life from multiple perspectives, impacting higher cognitive functions such as memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, learning, speech, and judgement. These challenges often intersect with other disability groups—including visual, hearing, motor, and broader cognitive impairments—leading to a complex set of support needs. The customised assistive technology and managed communication solutions we provide are designed to address these needs while aligning with NDIS principles of independence, safety, and cost-effectiveness.
1. Addressing Multi-Faceted Cognitive Impairments
For individuals with dementia and related conditions, difficulties may include remembering, concentrating, making decisions, managing mental capacity, self-care, spelling, memorising, or coping with thought disorders and hallucinations. Our Ecothesis platform provides tailored virtual assistant functions that support daily routines and mitigate the risks associated with cognitive decline. Key functions include:
Reminders & Scheduling: Automated prompts for medication, hydration, and appointments.
Simplified Communication: Voice commands for calls and messages, reducing barriers for those with limited literacy or typing skills.
Environmental Control: Integration with smart home devices to manage lighting, temperature, and security without physical effort.
This orchestration helps maintain daily living skills, delays the need for higher care levels, and improves consistency between different support workers.
2. Integration with Managed Communication Services
Standard internet services do not cater for the safety and usability needs of vulnerable participants. Our Managed Communication Service goes beyond connectivity to include real-time monitoring, troubleshooting, and automatic notifications if devices disconnect. For dementia and other cognitive impairments, this ensures:
Immediate Escalation: SMS alerts if vital devices go offline.
Consistent Endpoint Setup: Prevents accidental device misuse or disconnection.
Social Connection: Facilitates participation in virtual communities and peer groups, reducing isolation and supporting mental wellbeing.
3. Adapting to Other Disability Groups
Dementia may co-occur with:
Visual Impairments: Voice-first navigation, audio descriptions, and compatibility with screen readers.
Hearing Impairments: Visual alerts, captioned calls, and vibration-based notifications.
Motor Impairments: Hands-free operation via voice control, eliminating complex touch interactions.
Progressive Neurological Conditions: Adjustable input methods and simplified interfaces for changing abilities over time.
This flexibility is crucial for progressive conditions where a user’s needs evolve.
4. Reducing Carer Burden and Service Costs
By automating routine prompts and enabling remote support, technology can reduce the number of in-person support hours required—saving up to $62/hour compared with traditional staffing models. This is particularly important under NDIS funding, where solutions must be reasonable, necessary, and cost-effective. Benefits include:
Carer Relief: Reduces “perseverative questioning” fatigue for carers.
Faster Response to Needs: Immediate voice-activated emergency assistance.
Long-Term Sustainability: Lower risk of institutionalisation due to maintained independence.
5. Implementation and NDIS Compliance
Our approach follows NDIS guidelines on AT funding, ensuring that each deployment is linked to participant goals, documented through plan manager approval, and implemented with a custom onboarding process to match user skills and equipment familiarity.
Implementation steps include:
Open Discovery: Understanding the participant’s routines, abilities, and challenges.
Custom Programming: Adapting commands, prompts, and device responses.
Training for Participant & Support Team: Ensuring consistent use across all carers.
Ongoing Monitoring: Managed service oversight to adjust features as needs evolve.
6. Quality of Life Outcomes
With this level of customisation, participants experience:
Increased confidence in managing daily life.
Reduced risk of harm from missed tasks or unsafe environments.
Greater social participation through accessible digital platforms.
Enhanced dignity and autonomy.
As dementia progresses, these systems adapt, ensuring continuity of care and minimising disruption.
Conclusion
Dementia and related impairments create complex challenges requiring more than generic technology. By combining customised virtual assistants, smart home integration, and managed communication services, we can deliver solutions that are not only technically robust but also deeply person-centred. This approach improves safety, supports independence, reduces carer strain, and aligns with NDIS’s focus on reasonable, necessary, and cost-effective supports.