JAIN stands for Joint Artificial Intelligence Network and this network focuses on better (inter)national cooperation regarding products and services, based on Artificial Intelligence, that improve the quality of life of people with dementia and their families. The World JAIN Challenge is a competition with a prize for the best product and the best idea that contribute to the goal. Registrations can be made via the website: https://www.jainprojects.com/world-jain-challenge/.

With this initiative, JAIN hopes to achieve more awareness about good products and services, more collaboration and ultimately to have people with dementia and their families benefits from this in everyday life! As chairman of the jury, I hope to see great initiatives and I hereby call on you to send in your product or idea! This is possible until 28 January 2022 (unless the maximum number of submissions has been reached earlier).

JAIN also helps to set up fieldlabs to promote collaboration and development of AI products, and also webinars will be organised. More information can be found on the website: https://www.jainprojects.com/world-jain-challenge/. You can also follow JAIN on LinkedIn:   https://www.linkedin.com/events/worldjainchallenge6810541340036755456/

Last Thursday I was a guest in an alternative Alzheimer Café, because of corona. I was interviewed about a number of support options for people living with dementia and their loved ones at home, namely ontmoetingscentra and a number of innovative E-health applications. Good information about this is important; it can contribute to timely requests for and receipt of care and support, and thus to living more comfortably and safely at home. See the interview here: https://lnkd.in/dcx2Adp

In the Volkskracht (Dutch newspaper) of 12 March 2021 was an article about sensors in socks that can recognise stress in people who cannot easily indicate it themselves. This technique makes it possible to recognise stress increases at an early stage, which makes it possible to provide timely help and possibly prevent worse suffering. The software was tested at 10 care institutions for people with intellectual disabilities by comparing the measurements with observations in practice. The results are promising, and now the sensors are being incorporated into socks and this will be investigated further. It is an interesting technology that can potentially support care and contribute to a better quality of life for the residents.

The magazine Denkbeeld recently published our article about the experiences with exergaming of people with dementia, family caregivers and day care centre staff. Exergaming consisted in our project of interactive cycling on an exercise bike placed in front of a screen showing a route. The faster one cycles, the faster the landscape passes by. The article discusses a number of positive aspects (improvements in cognition, social behaviour and in the case of informal carers, among other things, less stress). Almost everyone was satisfied with this activity. Recommendations are also given for successfully offering exergaming in day care centres. Read here the article

In the corona era, creative solutions were devised to make daytime activities possible for among others people with dementia. For example, reading the newspaper or doing gymnastics together via an app on the tablet. Some experience with a tablet or assistance in starting the app is often desirable, in addition to having a tablet at one's disposal. This way of spending the day can also be pleasant for them after corona. Earlier research by us (Roest e.a., 2009) showed that even people who go to day care sometimes feel the need for extra day care activities on days when they do not attend the day care centre. Vilans has recently published a valuable report on the possibilities of 'digital day care'.