Memjo: Prototype meaningful activity tablet software system for PNC
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Working with people with PNC (progressive neurological conditions, such as Dementia or Huntington's disease) to further develop a prototype computer tablet based software system that offers meaningful cognitive activities (Memjo)
IRAS ID
358186
Contact name
Inga Stewart
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
ST ANDREW'S HEALTHCARE
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 26 days
Research summary
Memjo is a prototype software system that runs on a computer tablet and offers meaningful cognitive activities. It has been designed with a screen that is clear and simple to use, has avoided the use of complex movements such as pinching or zooming, and the use of large simple icons means there is no need to be very accurate when touching the screen. Memjo can be used to access music, films, photos and games. It was developed with St Andrew’s alongside people with progressive neurological conditions (PNC), including dementia or Huntington’s disease, who might struggle with traditional computer technology. We completed a proof-of-concept case-study (Girardi et al., 2023) and found people can be supported to use touchscreen computing. Trial participants found the experience enjoyable, to trigger reminiscence and help social interactions.
This study is a trial with a wider range of Memjo users and with more adaptability to the user’s preferences. It will also test out physical device security options, further develop the interactive experience, and introduce and test opportunities opened up by machine learning (i.e. something that automatically adapts content based on the existing choices made by the user, like a ‘recommender system’ on streaming services).
Participations will be people with a PNC diagnosis and retained capacity within a specialist inpatient hospital setting, care home settings, or living at home in the community. Completed over 24 weeks, it will be an iterative trial with a feedback loop allowing a repeated cycle of testing and improvement to refine the technology functionality and intervention procedure over four stages, with a final stage for participants to interact with an unchanged version of the technology. It will be supported by a staged rolling recruitment process starting with one participant from each setting in stage one and up to thirty participants by stage four.
REC name
London - Westminster Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/LO/0493
Date of REC Opinion
4 Aug 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion