Young Onset Dementia (YOD) is the onset of dementia before the age of 65 years and it’s becoming increasingly recognised as a very important clinical and social problem in the UK and around the world. Young onset dementia can come with devastating consequences for the patients and those who care for them.
Being able to find age appropriate information and services for young people who feel they may be experiencing signs of early onset of dementia is currently limited and this has been explored through experience of working within this life changing area of dementia care.
The use of video and text content in this easy to use app provides engaging and informative material that can be viewed wherever, whenever.
The mobile app can be used by patients themselves or by carers and professional at the time of diagnosis so that in their own time, patients and family members can use expert guidance to help them to deal with all aspects of their diagnosis.
And more importantly guide them to an array of services and organisations that can provide specialist support and information both locally and nationally.
Plus educating the patient allows them to make informed choices and have good quality conversations with the healthcare professionals involved in their care.
Within the service directory sections have been categorised, e.g. finances, transport, living well, employment, relationships, etc. Along with contact details for these resources and links to websites. Our app is a one stop guide for anyone confused or concerned about YOD.
Our YOD App is available to download, free via both the Apple App and Google Play stores.
The YOD App was developed as a joint venture between NHS Leicestershire Health Informatics Service and Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust. Combining skills from both organisations (clinical knowledge + technical knowledge) to create something really exciting. The use of apps is not only more engaging as information is presented on a multimedia platform, but the use of text, audio and video is also much more accessible.
Consultant psychiatrist Latha Velayudhan said:
“We found there was a gap in information for those who had just been diagnosed. There is a lot for older people, but limited support for younger people.
“We think this app fills the gap.
“We had a few focus groups with patients and carers. The feedback was excellent. One of them said it would have saved them six months of searching for various numbers and organisations. The app takes you where you need to go.”
Gemma Clayton – Business and Marketing Manager LHIS said:
“One of the advantages of the app is that you can take it away and look at it in your own time, or with your family and carers. It is also being updated constantly so you have the very latest information on services, legal issues, finance and benefits, transport and many other topics.”
We were delighted to receive a Highly Commended in the national CCA Good Practice Awards for the category “Innovation to Support Service Development”.
YOD was also highly commended in the “Excellent Ideas/Innovation Award” category of the LPT Celebrating Excellence awards.
Our team attended the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry, Annual Conference on 11th March 2016, which held as the East Midlands Conference Centre Nottingham. The app was received with great interest by delegates and downloads hit a record peak with clinicians who had visited our stand getting straight on their phones to get hold of the app!
Mobile Application Development
Here at LHIS we pride ourselves on our ability to use the latest technology available to help our customers make improvements, and efficiencies in their organisation, or to their customers!
This is a prime example of that ethos. Mobile application technology may seem out of reach to many organisations, however this is not the case. As you can see from the apps we have now made available on the Apple and Google Play Store, mobile app technology can be used for many things from simplifying and improving business as usual activities, such as patient communication and education, to enabling tools such as wireless availability.
This is a definite growth area for the industry, people are accessing information when and where they want to, and mobile apps allows you to target this audience directly, in the comfort of their own home, on the bus, or as an additional tool to be used in consultation with a customer/patient.
Do you have an idea for an app? Contact a member of our team today and we will use our expertise and experience to turn your idea into reality!
Mobile App development is a real growth area for LHIS, and it will be exciting to see how this area develops.