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Sanquelim children develop dementia app and get PM pat
India time | 16 hours ago | 27-08-2022 | 02:40
Panaji: Two 12-year-olds from Sanquelim, Viraj Marathe and Janhavee Joshi, created an app to help dementia patients and their caregivers. In the process, they impressed not only the judges of the Smart India Hackathon 2022, but also Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Class VII students from Rural School, Dr. KB Hedgewar Vidyamandir, Karapur Tisk, Sanquelim finished fifth in junior category at the Hackathon. During the grand finale of the Smart India Hackathon, Viraj had the opportunity to explain his application to the PM, during an interaction held via video conference. The revolutionary mobile game app alerts dementia patients to locate their missing keys or reminds them to take their medication on time. What makes the app unique is that there is a separate app that allows the caregiver to remotely alert the dementia patient about tasks or extend help. “What is dementia. It is a term used to describe a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities, severely enough to interfere with daily life. In India, more than four million people have some form of dementia, unfortunately only one in ten receive some form of diagnosis, treatment or care, as there is very little awareness of dementia in our society,” Viraj told the Prime Minister. His parents Rajeshree and Vishwanath being doctors, Viraj said it helped him realize what a global health problem dementia is for both patients and caregivers of dementia. society’s problems with my programming knowledge, so when Smart India Hackathon 2022 was announced, I decided to team up with my friend Janhavee and our mentor Milan Patil to devise a solution,” Viraj said. Patil worked on research, data and insights, Janhavee worked on app design and aesthetics and thus ‘AgeCare’ was born. The app menu consists of layouts like mental wellbeing, physical wellbeing, etc. or dementia therapy. This involves documenting previous discussions and activities with props such as photos, videos, etc. Our app features art therapy, music, games, and videos that aid in cognitive and behavioral improvement and provide an outlet for self-expression. The app’s hyperlocal communication system, diary, prarthana and wellness modules will help keep a positive mindset,” Viraj told the PM. The app also includes yoga and meditation modules that will help improve the function of parts of the brain that control mood, memory and attention, he says. “If the dementia patient forgets to take medication, our alarm system can be used to alert them and remind their carer. We planned to control the patient app with a separate control for the caregiver. Our app is a minimalist and simple and lightweight app, which means it doesn’t use too much RAM and CPU power. People who are not familiar with mobile technology can also access it effortlessly,” Viraj said. “Are you in contact with a yoga institution? asked the PM as Viraj explained the use of yoga modules in the app. The children clarified that they had sought the help of yoga experts to include asanas useful for the elderly. said Viraj, who has also created apps like EduRoot to make it easier for young children to learn the basics.
