The My House of Memories app was developed by app specialists Damibu and uses artistic interpretation, curatorship, museum education and reminiscence therapy techniques to give those suffering with dementia a museum experience. It also raises awareness of the condition and enables professional health services, carers and families to help those directly affected to live well with Dementia.

Co-produced with people living with dementia and their carers – from organisations including Innovate Dementia and individual members of their Regional Stakeholder Platform – Mersey Care NHS Trust, Liverpool John Moores University and members of the Mossley Hill Hospital Memory Group.

“It demonstrates that the work we’re doing to help people living with dementia is having a real positive impact,” said Carol Rogers, Executive Director of Education, Communities and Visitors at National Museums Liverpool.

“Along with our House of Memories dementia training programme, we have been striving to create a piece of technology that people can use in their own homes and care settings.

A new app tailored for dementia sufferers improves engagement and helps enrich lives

“The success of the app shows that museum resources can be used effectively to help enrich and improve the lives of those living with dementia, their families and carers.

NML is currently planning to tailor the app’s capabilities to engage with people in different geographical locations using museum resources found at other venues beyond National Museums Liverpool.

“Our next step is to develop the app further with commercial partners, so we are able to reach a wider audience,” said Rogers.

“The app is an added platform for connecting people and enabling families and carers to continue building relationships with people who are living with dementia.”

Using a simple format to stimulate memory, it allows people to browse social history objects from the Museum of Liverpool’s collection to prompt reminiscence, which can instigate conversation, special moments and shared memories between parents, sons and daughters, carers and their clients.

The app’s content themes are wide ranging and designed to be intuitive, allowing users to follow a memory path of their choice. The objects featured are brought to life with multimedia, and app-users can save objects to their own memory trees, memory boxes or memory timelines. Carers can also create personal profiles for the different people they support.

It is part of the organisation’s wider House of Memories dementia awareness programme, which has been running since 2012.

To date, House of Memories has trained more than 5,000 carers across Merseyside, the North and Midlands to gain awareness and develop deeper understanding of dementia using local museums and cultural venues as a vital resource.

The app has been funded by the Mi (More Independent) Partnership, which aims to help people live more independently through the use of technology.

Download the My House of Memories app.

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