Groundbreaking Dundee-based social media project aims to trigger past memories in people with dementia is to be piloted in Balhousie Care Group homes across Scotland.
The Memory Box Network is a charity which aims to use online reminiscence therapy to increase the quality of life of those who live with dementia, which affects around 84,000 people in Scotland.
The team is developing a website where users can view and upload content to act as a talking point between the person with dementia and their carers and loved ones.
The Memory Box Network is completely funded by donations so the website will be free to use. The charity has already received funding from a number of trusts, including £80,000 from Nominet Trust, but is generating additional funding through an innovative social loan scheme that gives a return on investment.
Tony Banks, chairman and founder of Balhousie Care Group, has become the first to invest £1,000 in the MBN Social Loan scheme. His cash will be invested in the charity's work and then returned in full in three years time.
Staff at Balhousie Care Group homes in Angus, Aberdeenshire, Dundee, Perthshire and Fife will be trialing the website along with residents' families, using the website to view old photographs, audio files, moving images and written material from bygone years.
