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MELBOURNE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2023--

There is a scene in the 2020 film The Father, starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, that is all too familiar for people caring for someone with dementia. In it, Hopkins’ character Anthony struggles to keep up with his daughter Anne’s (Colman) movements. One moment, she is bringing home dinner. The next, she is talking about moving to Paris with a boyfriend he doesn’t like. She’s in his flat. Suddenly, he’s in her flat. Her face shifts – she looks like someone he used to know, then a total stranger. Where is he? When is he? Dementia is a cruel sickness that radiates outwards, seeping into the lives of anyone in its orbit. Patients become lost in a maze of memories. The present day becomes too slippery to hold on to, so many retreat into themselves. Wayfinding – meaning the ability to find one’s way in the world – becomes severely impaired, resulting in anxiety, confusion, and distress that can be very difficult for families and carers to cope with. There is no cure for dementia, and most medical research is focused on finding treatments for diseases that cause dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. It’s extremely important work, but there’s also a need for tools that can help those living with dementia as well as their families and carers. As research shows that visual cues can help deliver much-needed aid and relief, a number of small creative companies are stepping in to fill in the gap. Sarah Harrison is the founder of Recognii, the world’s first entertainment DVD made especially for people with moderate to later-stage dementia. The idea for Recognii came about after Harrison began taking care of her father when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2015. She and her mother, a former nurse, opted to care for him in their family home in Harrogate, where Sarah also resides. “As the condition progressed, he became very withdrawn,” she recalls. “He couldn’t watch TV or engage himself in his own activities, couldn’t really have a conversation, couldn’t read books anymore because he couldn’t follow the plot.” But amid all the gloom cast by the disease, there’d be breakthrough moments when Sarah saw her father as she always knew him. These moments often came when he watched children’s TV, as the faces of smiling, happy children and brightly coloured graphics grabbed his attention. “It was great, but it was also too childish and didn’t reflect his life,” Sarah says. “I thought, surely there must be something out there that is more simplistic viewing that does reflect adult experiences – but there was absolutely nothing.” An idea began to form. Sarah thought that if she could create engaging short clips of “gentle, joyful stuff” with no storylines, it would bring him some relief from the fog in his mind. “He responded to very bright colours and contrasts, and two-dimensional images, which reflected what we know about the way dementia impacts cognitive and visual processing.” Changes in visual perception occur when the sensory journey between the brain and organs (such as the eyes and ears) gets interrupted, or slows down due to dementia. According to Alzheimer’s UK, the disease can also lead to damage to the eyes or parts of the brain, which can then lead to misperceptions, misidentifications, hallucinations, delusions and time-shifting. Like Anthony’s experience in The Father, time becomes an amorphous thing, which jumps back and forth instead of moving in a linear fashion. As such, older memories can become safer places for dementia patients to revisit. I noticed the iPad gathering dust. She said it wasn’t easy for her to use and she missed getting letters and postcards like she did in the past Famileo, a company that creates “family newspapers” for elderly people – many with dementia – works with families of patients to create personalised hard-copy newspapers that utilise “reminiscence therapy” to help soothe and comfort. “Typically, people with dementia are more likely to remember long-term memories,” explains Tanguy De Gelis, a co-founder of the company. “Famileo includes old photographs of themselves and the family, which stimulates their memory and helps them remember people as they were.” Each photograph included in the newspapers is accompanied by text that helps provide context, so that the reader can easily identify who they’re looking at, as well as their own place in the family in relation to the people in the picture. “Managers and activity coordinators at care homes often tell us that a person’s dementia journey is not linear, that symptoms come and go,” De Gelis continues. “The consistency and reliability of these personalised newspapers allows it to be appreciated even more on the ‘good days’ patients have. It can be very hard for family members to think of things to talk about with an older relative, but the newspaper can be a conversation starter and provide a visual guide for both sides.” Having a physical newspaper is also a boon for many elderly people who struggle with smartphones, tablets and laptops. For De Gelis, it was his grandmother who inspired the idea for Famileo. “I bought my grandma an iPad as a Christmas present so she could keep in touch with the family through our WhatsApp group,” he recalls. “But one day I went to visit her and I noticed the iPad gathering dust. She said it wasn’t easy for her to use and she missed getting letters and postcards like she did in the past.” The slow pace in developing tools for coping with dementia is down to a lack of understanding about the disease, says Dr Emilia Molimpakis, CEO and co-founder of Thymia. For years, patients languished in care homes, their minds deteriorating as families watched on helplessly. “Unfortunately, up until recently, pinpointing clear signs of Alzheimer’s disease relied on invasive and/or expensive medical tests and these often don’t show clear results until the disease has progressed substantially.” But recent developments in medical treatments and in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) have shifted things. Dr Molimpakis’ platform involves building AI-powered tools to improve the speed, accuracy and objectivity of dementia diagnoses. Thymia also uses video game-style activities to test for symptoms of cognitive disorders, she says, such as major depression, anxiety and dementia. “Each game is built around one or more cognitive tests, the results of which show tell-tale signs of symptoms, such as fatigue issues, memory impairment, concentration difficulties and more,” she explains. It does so by using software that analyses “biomarkers” of disease while players complete the activities across three key data streams: voice, video and behavioural measures. By analysing how someone speaks or what facial micro-expressions they make, Thymia’s work-in-progress models have identified symptoms in major depressive disorders with more than 90 per cent accuracy, Dr Molimpakis says. Major improvements in healthcare mean that people are living longer – but in a cruel twist of fate, this means that dementia is becoming ever more prevalent. There are currently more than 55 million people living with dementia globally, and according to Alzheimer’s Disease International, this figure is expected to balloon to 78 million in 2030 and 139 million in 2050. While scientists are working on earlier diagnosis and treatment, the need for coping mechanisms for living with the disease is growing. Harrison remembers how her father would react when she showed him the clips she created. He passed away before the final version of Recognii’s DVD could be launched. “It’s like the clouds would part, just for a few seconds,” she recalls. “Suddenly, I saw Dad again. The moments when you get a glimpse of who they used to be are so precious, because as the disease progresses, you do feel like you are losing them. So having made something that helps bring them back, even temporarily – it’s like a gift.” Read More A One Direction fan claimed she had a brain tumour. Five years after her death, we still need answers ‘Death acceptance brings peace’: Are death doulas the cure for our fear of the end? ‘You always feel like you’ve done something wrong’: Why UK surrogacy laws need a ‘real overhaul’ Jason Manford comforted by fans after announcing death of family member Grandmother praised for refusing to babysit daughter’s newborn for free 7 tips and tricks for hay fever relief

Rhubarb season runs from April through to the end of summer, but it’s a real treat to eat fresh before the hot weather truly arrives. In the UK, it’s best grown in the “Rhubarb Triangle” in West Yorkshire, so we asked two-starred Michelin chef Michael Wignall, who runs The Angel Inn at Hetton, for his favourite ways with the vibrant vegetable. Rhubarb cooked in foil Serves: 4 Ingredients: 400g rhubarb (washed and cut into approx 5cm batons) 5 drops of vanilla extract Zest and juice of 1 lime 100g light brown sugar Aluminum foil Method: Set an oven at 180C. Place a sheet of aluminum foil (approx size of 2 x A4 sheets) on your work top. Lay your rhubarb on one side (ensure they are laid uniform) and leave the other side empty. Mix the zest and juice of lime, vanilla extract and brown sugar together and sprinkle over the rhubarb. Fold the empty side of the foil over the rhubarb to each corner and then fold each side into towards the centre 2-3 times, to wrap the rhubarb tightly, like an envelope (the better the seal the faster the rhubarb will cook, retaining all of its lovely flavour and juices). Place the foil envelope onto a ceramic tray (this is to allow you to use the juices, should any leak out) and cook for approx 25-35 minutes. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes before carefully opening the bag and serve. Serving suggestions: Serve with warm ginger custard, crème fraiche or clotted cream. Or go savoury with roasted duck or chicken. Rhubarb crumble Serves: 4-6 Ingredients: For the crumble topping: 450g plain flour (sieved) 270g muscovado sugar 250g unsalted butter (diced) 170g ground almonds (replace with oats, if nut free) 60g pecan nuts (chopped fine) replaced with pumpkin seeds for nut free) Zest of 1 orange For the fruit base: 800g of rhubarb (washed and chopped into approx 3cm) 200g blueberries (adds a lovely sweetness and colour) 150g light brown sugar Method: For the crumble mixture: Rub together the flour, sugar and almonds, making sure there are no lumps in the sugar (Muscovado sugar can get quite lumpy). Then add the butter in 3 stages and rub together, until you have a breadcrumb consistency. Lastly, add the pecan nuts and stir in thoroughly. For the fruit base: Add the sugar and rhubarb to a large pan and cook on a medium heat, until the rhubarb has slightly softened. Remove from the heat and lightly stir in the blueberries. Place the mixture onto a tray to cool. Preheat an oven to 180C, divide the filling into individual heat proof ramakins or one large heat proof dish. Sprinkle with the crumble mixture (do not press down) and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden in colour and the filling is starting to bubble at the sides. Serving suggestion: Serve with ginger custard or ice cream. Lemon and ginger posset Serves: 6 Ingredients: 500ml double cream 250ml castor sugar 4 lemons (juice and zest) If you can, source good quality lemons – leafy and unwaxed. Amalfi lemons are the best, if in season. It makes all the difference! 20g root ginger (peeled and finely grated) 2 sheets of bronzed gelatin, soaked in ice cold water Method: Place the cream, sugar and ginger in a medium sized pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and then the soaked gelatin. Stir well and pass through a fine sieve, into a pouring jug. Pour into ramakins or glasses and allow to set in the fridge for 5 hours. Serve with the compote of Rhubarb and vanilla. (Recipe below) Rhubarb compote Serves: 4 Ingredients: 1kg rhubarb (leaves and base removed) 350g castor sugar 1 vanilla pod (split and seeds removed) 50ml water ½ tsp of ground ginger Method: Cut the rhubarb into approx 2cm slices, along the length of the stem. Place a wide thick bottomed pan, onto a medium heat and add the sugar, vanilla, ginger and water. Allow the mixture to dissolve. Add the chopped rhubarb, making sure it is completely coated in the sugar syrup. Cook over a medium heat, stirring often, until the rhubarb begins to break down and turns into a thick mixture (there should be no water remaining). Chef’s tip: Forced rhubarb is best for this, as there is no need to peel, you get a lovely colour. Outdoor summer rhubarb can work well but peel before cutting and cooking and replace the water with 100ml of cranberry juice. Read More Love wine but can’t afford it? Here’s how to drink luxury for less Three meat-free dishes to try this National Vegetarian Week How to make TikTok’s viral whole roasted cauliflower Gordon Ramsay: ‘I’m going off the beaten track to become a better cook’ Gordon Ramsay’s coffee-spiced pork shoulder recipe Gordon Ramsay takes on Louisianian gumbo

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