We warmly invite all colleagues involved in delivering dementia support services or interested in digital inclusion to take part in this session as we share our learnings and conclusions after piloting a solution to help people living with dementia engage digitally.

About this project

LOTI and the Helix Centre (part of the UK Dementia Research Institute Care Research & Technology Centre at Imperial College London) undertook a London-wide project to co-design and pilot new ways to provide community dementia support.

The pandemic was particularly hard on people living with dementia as lockdown stripped away the routines and family and community support they rely on. Community dementia support groups had to adapt quickly to use digital technologies to re-engage and support people from their homes in creative ways tailored to the specific needs of people with dementia and carers.

We saw an opportunity to take stock of the new digital skills and techniques developed for community dementia support, and translate them into new hybrid approaches to supporting people in the community, helping them remain living safely in their own homes.

For more information about this work, please visit the project page.

About the pilot

Our aim for the pilot was to learn about the most effective way to run an online community group using a digital solution. Over 4 weeks, we tested a 'Digital Befriending Kit' with 12 participants living with dementia. We also developed 4 different online activities to understand what sessions were most effective in this context.

About LOTI

The London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI) was established in July 2019 to help its members (currently 23 London boroughs, the Greater London Authority (GLA) and London Councils) to collaborate on projects that bring the best of digital and data innovation to improve public services and outcomes for Londoners.

About the Digital Inclusion Innovation Programme

LOTI is supporting London’s Digital Access Mission for all, which has a goal for “Every Londoner to have access to good connectivity, basic digital skills and the device or support they need to be online by 2025.”

As part of this mission, the GLA and LOTI launched the Digital Inclusion Innovation Programme (DIIP) to discover, design, develop and scale initiatives that support digitally excluded Londoners who have been left particularly vulnerable during the Covid pandemic.

In our first year we were supported by boroughs, VCS organisations and the private sector, and look forward to continuing our collaborations as we enter the final year of the programme. To find out more about our work, please visit our website.

Supporting Dementia Care: Final Show and Tell