Page 53 - Changes and Challenges

Dementia
Changes and Challenges
A simplistic example is the idea of making lists. Many well-intentioned people
have suggested I make a list of things that I need to do etc, to aid my memory.
This works well for people who have made lists all their lives, but I need to
make a list of the lists I’ve made that are a waste of time and effort. If I could
remember to look at the list (assuming I could find where I had ‘filed’ it), I
wouldn’t need the list because I could remember the thing in the first place.

Also, we need to consider how long will this solution work for. Two things are
important considerations here.

The functional life of the product. How long it last before it begins to fail.
Many devices with internally batteries will become expensive door stops (or
hammer buffers) because their lithium battery is aging and requires recharged
at increasingly more frequent intervals. The batteries may not be easily
replaceable, generally aren’t without a significant cost.

Secondly, we need to consider the opposite- will it outlast its usefulness
because your situation/abilities have deteriorated. Hopefully, this won’t be
the issue.

Try Before You Buy.
An obvious and necessary adjunct to the idea of pre-emptive implementation
of potential solutions, is try them out in advance of committing to them. A try
before you buy approach. To really test them they need to be trialled in a
realistic environment, i.e. your home, for a reasonable amount of time,
possibly weeks. This way you can be sure that they will work as intended, and
more importantly that they will work for you.

A Novel Idea!
We (us lucky enough to be diagnosed with Dementia) need to be in the whole
9
process. Not only do we need to be consulted and listened too , about
possible solutions to our problems, but we need to be involved from the very
beginning of the design process, though product development, and more

9 Failing to do this could lead to a violation of our basic human rights (Dementia and
Human Rights. page 5)
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