Final year Industrial Design and Technology student, Emily Knott, has designed Roma, a meal reminder for people with dementia. The device uses music and aroma diffusing technology to provide an easy to understand signal to people with dementia, reminding them that it is time to eat.

With improvements in health and social care in recent times, people are living for longer, a demographic change that has presented both opportunities and challenges for the estimated 850,000 people currently living with dementia in the UK. It is said that around 85% of people once diagnosed would prefer to remain at home. Though, when living at home it is very common that people lose weight caused by a loss in their appetite and forgetting to have meals.

Emily was inspired to design Roma, after her Nana was diagnosed with early onset dementia last year. The proposal was to design a device that helps people with early to mid stage of dementia by encouraging them to eat three meals a day to remain healthy. The device had to aesthetically fit in the sitting room or kitchen of a home and be seen as a desirable product rather than patronising.

Through subsequent research she uncovered Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning theory which explains that the brain can make new association between events in an environment with music being played.  So she set to work to understand how to make the connection between the music and a physical reminder that encourages users to eat. 

Roma establishes a connection in the mind between aroma and hunger, so that current eating habits can be maintained for people who have early/ mid stages of dementia. At mealtimes, the savoury aroma begins diffusing for one hour by heating one of the three glass bottles that contain an oil based liquid concentrate. Simultaneously, the device plays the chosen melody which will, in time, act as an association that triggers hunger.

The screen is only used for the set up process, which can be completed by either the user who has dementia, or a helper. The user manual will explain the basic set up process. The product does not have specific meal names so as to not confuse users from different areas who would have different names for the first, second and third meal of the day, but simply coordinates a different colour with each.

Roma can then be left to emit automatically in the home, without the need for interaction, and only needing refilling once a month, at which point the product will notify the user. This gives an opportunity to sell additional refillable fragrances in a subscription.

The device is completely customisable, discrete and encourages users to remain as independent as possible. It is refilled once a month and can be set up by either the patient or carer very quickly.  Emily would love the opportunity to develop the product further and her dream would be to take it to market in a hope of helping other sufferers of this disease worldwide.

Key features:​​​​​​​

- Discrete use of music and scent prompts the user in an un-patronising way

- Designed to emit a stronger smell than regular diffusers with the use of heating plates and an hour cycle 

- Once a cycle begins the top of the device lights up in a particular colour to also signify a particular meal, making the device easy to use in cultures were terms such as breakfast, lunch and dinner don’t mean anything

- Customisable scent bottles mean users can select up to three different scents that can match any culture or cuisine from a selection available in an online store or subscription service 

- User can choose up to 9 different melodies or to use the device without music at all Set up is quick and easy and can be done by the user or a carer, only needing refills once a month Designed to work consistently without interaction

If you would like to find out more, email Emily on emily.knottid@outlook.com