Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Hero Awards 2023 finalist place for 'Seeing dementia through their eyes' collaboration

A collaborative project which allowed researchers and filmmakers to literally see the world through the eyes of a Swansea couple living with dementia has been announced as a finalist in the Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Hero Awards 2023.

Research by the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s (UWTSD) Assistive Technologies Innovation Centre (ATiC) team informed a series of 10 new films from Swansea-based eHealth Digital Media Ltd, for the Seeing dementia through their eyes (Living with Dementia) project, shortlisted in the Awards’ Research and Innovation category.

The Awards, which received almost 300 nominations from across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, recognise and celebrate the involvement and participation of people affected by dementia in activities and projects.  They  also demonstrate the nominees’ impact through meaningful involvement of people affected by dementia.

eHealth Digital Media’s films, about the daily lives and challenges of people living with dementia, focus on delivering support, training, and education for dementia patients, their families, carers, and healthcare professionals.

The ATiC team worked closely with the company’s Creative Director, Kimberley Littlemore, from Newton in Swansea.  Kimberley’s parents Clive, who sadly passed away in November 2022, and Pauline Jenkins, in their 80s, both lived with dementia and were her inspiration for the research project.

ATiC is an integrated research centre which puts user-centred thinking and strategic innovation tools into practice through its cutting-edge user experience (UX) and usability evaluation research facility located in Swansea’s Innovation Quarter in SA1.  

Digital communications company eHealth Digital Media produce and deliver behavioural change content such as high-quality content information films through its established PocketMedic platform.

The project, which took just over a year to complete, used advanced UX and human behavioural research tools, such as eye tracking and facial expression recognition technology, in the creation and evaluation of the films.

Cameras were set up around Clive and Pauline’s home in Swansea to keep track of their daily lives. Additionally, the couple used wearable eye tracking glasses while performing household activities, so the team could ‘see the world through their eyes.’

This footage helped the team to detect and understand any patterns and triggers over time and to pick out key moments, which could be analysed and discussed further by clinicians and academics in the field.

The films are available on eHealth Digital Media’s PocketMedic platform, which delivers high-quality health information films ‘prescribed’ by clinicians to support their patients in managing their health.  And as the learning materials are screen-based and not published or print-based, they are readily accessible to end users.  

The films are available to view free of charge in Wales thanks to funding eHealth Digital Media received from Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.

Professor Ian Walsh, Provost of UWTSD Swansea and Cardiff Campuses, and Director of ATiC said: “I’m delighted that eHealth Digital Media’s work and its partnership with UWTSD’s ATiC research centre has been recognised in the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Hero Awards.  It reaffirms the importance of partnership and collaboration between the University and enterprises in accelerating innovation, which results in such a positive impact on people’s lives.”

Tim Stokes, ATiC Innovation Fellow and project lead, said: “This is excellent news and further positive recognition of the importance of this collaborative work with eHealth Digital Media, which placed people at the heart of the research.

“Initially this project began life as a simple experiment that sprang from the idea of Kimberley wanting ‘to see dementia through her parents’ eyes’.  It has helped us to understand how people with dementia live and understand what types of challenges they face daily.”

Kimberley Littlemore, Creative Director of eHealth Digital Media, said: “We are very proud of our collaboration with ATiC to see dementia through the eyes of my parents. The eye tracking technology allowed us to demonstrate and share through film in a very human way what researchers had been describing in their papers about changes in visual perception in people living with dementia.

“I have nothing but admiration for my parents, who allowed me to share their journey.  Something good is coming out of an incredibly challenging situation for us all.”

The Seeing dementia through their eyes (Living with Dementia) project was supported through Accelerate, a pioneering collaboration between three of Wales’s universities, Cardiff University (Clinical Innovation Accelerator), Swansea University (Healthcare Technology Centre), UWTSD (ATiC), and Life Sciences Hub Wales.

Co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Welsh European Funding Office, Welsh Government’s Health and Social Services group, universities, Life Sciences Hub Wales, and the health boards, the aim of the Accelerate programme is to create lasting economic value for Wales.

eHealth Digital Media’s work was also supported by Swansea University’s Centre for Innovative Ageing, and experts at home and abroad, including Teepa Snow and her Positive Approach to Care Team in the USA, experts from Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, the Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research (CADR – Swansea University, Aberystwyth University and Bangor University), and the fantastic team of carers and allied health professionals who helped care for Clive and Pauline Jenkins.

The Seeing dementia through their eyes (Living with Dementia) collaboration was the winner of the Benefitting Society award in the Green Gown Awards UK and Ireland in November 2022.

Established in 2004, the Green Gown Awards celebrate the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges. The Benefitting Society award recognised ATiC for its innovative research collaboration with eHealth Digital Media Ltd, and for the way the films are readily accessible to end users with minimal carbon footprint.  

The winners of this year’s Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Hero Awards 2023 will be announced at a ceremony on Friday, April 28, in Birmingham. 

Go to the project video.

Further Information

Bethan Evans

ATiC Project Officer, Marketing and Communications     
Assistive Technologies Innovation Centre (ATiC)     
Email: bethan.evans@uwtsd.ac.uk