The MindMate team visited the sheltered housing senior home „Albany House“ in Sunderland this week. We wanted to introduce caregivers and residents to the MindMate app and spend some time with them.
The house contains 17 flats and is nicely located in a very quiet area of Sunderland that we found without a problem. The staff was very friendly and the home seemed to offer everything one might need. We were invited to join them after their coffee time and before lunch club. The residents all seemed very nice and curious and we also found out that the Albany house has a knitting club on Tuesdays. Not only home residents were present, though, also a couple of external ladies and gentlemen who usually come around the home for coffee and games. We are always a little nervous when we show the app to people for the first time, but that feeling went away really quickly after the warm welcome we received.
It’s always fantastic to see people using our app. Especially if they enjoy it.
We started by giving a short overview and then worked with people individually. Most of them liked the games a lot. The “Fruit Frenzy”, the “Wheel Spin”, the “Colour pick” game and Sudoku were the most popular ones. Some of the residents needed some time to get used to the iPad and to figure out the right amount of pressure when tapping on the screen but they enjoyed learning about it and some of them already earned lots of trophies in the games.
Speaking to people and finding out more about them was also very rewarding. We filled in the “Getting to know me” with some of the residents and the stories you can hear when you just listen to someone are incredible. We, for example, met a Canadian word traveler and an Irish 99-year-old lady who, to the surprise of the staff, was winning one gold trophy after the other.
Another clear favorite was the music sections. Everyone enjoyed guessing songs and even a lady with severe dementia who hardly spoke started smiling and dancing to the 60's playlist.
The feedback, good and bad, was extremely useful and we can’t wait to go back and see how everyone is doing with the MindMate app after using it for longer.
We are grateful for having been invited and can’t wait to visit our next senior home.
Do you know any nice homes that would be interested in trying new technology? Let us know in the comments section or write us an e-mail:info@mindmate-app.com