I was assigned to write a news piece this week, which generally comes with the connotation of announcing something new. But instead, I want to talk about something that has been talked about many times before: dementia.
The problem of dementia is one that has been the focus of much research in recent years. Unfortunately, much research does not seem to be enough, as it is still a serious problem which affects many people across the world each year. In the US, the number of people suffering from dementia was estimated to be about 3.4 million in 2002 (source).
Recently a new app came out in the UK to highlight this statistic. The FaceDementia app was created by Alzheimer’s Research UK, which raises awareness for this disease. Copying information and pictures from your facebook timeline, FaceDementia presents them in an informative and personalized way that gives the viewer an insight into living with dementia. I tried out this app for myself, and found it really helpful. That is not to say that there are not downsides, as having close friends whose profile pictures were cartoons or their cat was a bit of a detriment to the overall message they were trying to convey, but there was a moment near the end of the video slideshow that really stood out to me.
Having already shown me the pictures of about eight of my friends next to each other, the app subtly switched exactly two of them the second time, something that I was not exactly surprised to see that they had done, and yet was shocked by as I had a moment of genuine confusion, wondering if I knew those people. Right after gaining that honest reaction out of me, the app continued on to show me the amount of people suffering from dementia in just the UK alone (around 800,000), and explained that they are not suffering solely from “old age.” Dementia, as they wanted to show, is a disease, not a natural process. And as such, we should be working harder to cure it, as we do with other diseases. Understanding how dementia must feel is a great first step in the process.
Try FaceDementia here: FaceDementia.org
Source: BBC News