The OM Interactive team enjoyed a fabulous three days demonstrating our Mobii sensory table at the National Dementia Congress Event at Doncaster Race Course, culminating in the National Dementia Care Awards on the eve of 7th November.

As winners of the Outstanding Product Award 2018 we felt honoured to sponsor the Dementia Arts & Creativity Award as well as being part of the judging panel for the Best Dementia Team award.

The evening was hosted with heartfelt enthusiasm by ex-England Rugby 7’s captain Ollie Phillips, a charity ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society following the loss of his beloved grandmother to the disease.

Our Senior Customer Liaison Officer, Russell Harwood, was proud to present the Arts & Creativity Award to a brilliant collaboration between the Central School of Speech & Drama & Imperial College NHS Trust. A project bringing immersive inter-generational drama experiences to older people with dementia on hospital wards.

One of our Care Specialists, Caron Sprake,  (of CaronCares), joined a top judging panel of April Dobson of Hallmark Care & Aderio Rocha of TLC Care to select St Cuthbert’s Hospice, Durham, as the best Dementia Team.

The Awards were a true celebration of the very best in Dementia Care including an award to Wendy Mitchell for her Exceptional Contribution as a person living with dementia, author of a best-selling book and two honorary doctorates. It was also good to see the Dementia Training prize go to ‘DementiaTrainers’ an organisation that has put people with dementia in the driving seat with their EDucate training programme, the true experts of the lived experience.

The final award of the evening went to Professor Dawn Brooker for a Lifetime of Achievement in Dementia Research/Care. Her ground-breaking research into the use of technology has been so insightful for us, highlighting the potential for intuitive tech to deliver meaningful experiences in dementia care, enabling all ages and abilities to keep on participating.

We would like to congratulate all the worthy winners of the Dementia Care Awards 2019 and all those who contributed to the Congress Speeches, plenaries and sessions. We look forward to working alongside many of you in 2020.

If you ever want to see smiles cross the faces of retirement-home residents, just watch them interact with groundbreaking and award-winning technology known as the Mobii Magic Surface, or Mobii for short.

The Mobii — one of several models of pioneering interactive motion-activated projection systems made by OM Interactive  — beams images, sounds and music from a wide variety of applications onto horizontal surfaces, including floors, tables, table trays and beds. 

Users interact with the many lively games and activities, receiving a wide variety of physical, emotional, cognitive and social benefits, according to research done on-site in 10 British care homes, along with questionnaire responses from another 89 care homes.

To learn more about the research findings, please watch the video below.

Here is a summary of the OM Interactive research study:

In the fall of 2018, OM Interactive commissioned Care Research to undertake an extensive research project to identify the use and impact of the OM Interactive Mobii system in a variety of care homes across England.

As part of this research, 10 care homes using the Mobii were visited, residents of seven homes were video-recorded in 8 x 30-minute sessions, and key staff were interviewed about the responses they had witnessed.

In addition, a comprehensive user survey was sent out to all of OMI’s care customers in the United Kingdom, with 89 care homes responding. The results below highlight the key findings of the home visits and survey results, with comments from staff and family members.

Research findings
It was found that 85 per cent of respondents used their Mobii at least every week, while 39 per cent used it every day.

Encouraging movement for greater physical and emotional health

The Mobii gave residents a rewarding and purposeful approach to exercise and movement, with more than 90 per cent of respondents stating they’d seen a positive impact on residents’ physical ability, participation and movements.

Emotional well-being, encompassing emotional and psychological aspects of wellbeing.

The Mobii was found to be an uplifting resource that created a positive atmosphere. Smiles, laughter and enjoyment were consistently found, with 75 per cent of respondents saying they believed that the Mobii has helped their most withdrawn residents.

Reminiscence and nostalgia: Finding ways to feel a sense of belonging and familiarity

Many residents who began a session fairly uncommunicative became animated, talking about their memories and past experiences, prompted by the Mobii activity. Ninety-two per cent of participants reminisced during sessions.

Social interactions: Opportunities to socialize and reduce loneliness

There was consistent observation of the Mobii encouraging residents to become more social, often singing along
and laughing with peers, staff and family members. Eighty per cent of staff agreed that the device has provided more quality social time.

Sensory responses and interactions, providing enriching multisensory experiences

Residents responded positively to the high colour visuals, ‘painting’ and sweeping with tactile brushes, balls and batons. Staff commented on the effects of the calming music content on residents who were anxious or distressed. Fully 96 per cent of respondents said they would happily recommend the Mobii to other homes.

Some of the benefits reported by homes, centres and hospitals using the interactive floor/table:

• Greater socialization andwillingness to communicate
• Obvious enjoyment and shared laughter
• More flexibility and upper-body movement and coordination
• Sustained moments of lucidity and brightness
• Improved relationships with peers and staff
• Increased well-being levels and improved emotional stability
• More motivation to stand up, stretch and physically participate
• Greater opportunities to share personal stories
• Staff get to know the person behind the dementia
• Families enjoy joint activities without the pressure of finding words
• Can be a calming or stimulating activity with a wide choice of moods
• Opportunity for home members to entertain, independent of staff.
• Flexibility of floor, table and bedside use, making it fully inclusive
• More spontaneous singing

To see the full research study, click here