WECARE

Product & UX/UI Design

WeCare is an app and wearable that helps families and caregivers support dementia patients through collaboration, shared updates, and seamless care transitions; creating dignified, personalized and meaningful moments.

CARING IS AN EXPERIENCE

Product & UX/UI

WECARE

The app that makes elderly caring a warm experience.

WeCare

Product and UX/UI Design

2024

WeCare is an app that helps families and caregivers create meaningful, personalized moments for dementia patients.
Caregivers often face heavy workloads, while families struggle to keep up with evolving needs. WeCare fosters collaboration between both groups, allowing them to share updates, insights, and support, leading to more informed and compassionate care.

To ease transitions between rotating caregivers, the app pairs with a discreet wearable that automatically connects to the patient’s profile when an authorized caregiver approaches. This replaces the impersonal hospital wristband with a dignified, human-centered alternative, helping everyone involved feel more connected and confident.

By Santiago Viveros

User-flow

Introduction

Dementia can manifest in many different ways, and every elder has a unique way of being.
This project aims to understand the individual needs and desires of each patient during all forms of interaction. The foundation of this initiative is the recognition that, as the disease progresses, interactions will inevitably evolve. Therefore, it is essential for the people around the patient to adapt, rather than give up.

Different stakeholders have faced various challenges in adapting, often due to a lack of time or understanding. For this reason, the project is designed to serve as a tool to help them support one another, making each patient’s life more meaningful.

The Brief

"How might we improve and sustain the living environment for elder people through the Internet of Things (IoT) applications?"

One of the most common assumptions we hear about older people is that they are not compatible with technology. I disagree with this notion in many ways. While it’s true that some older adults choose not to engage with new technologies, that doesn’t mean they are incapable of doing so. In fact, many believe in the benefits of technology and are willing to use it. I strongly believe that technology can be an incredible ally for older adults, especially because it helps them stay connected with family and friends at a time when many are experiencing feelings of abandonment.

To approach the brief, I started from a personal experience. I wanted to understand what was truly needed to improve the situation many elderly people face. A relative of mine had Alzheimer’s, and I remember the main difficulty during our interactions was the feeling that the person I was speaking to no longer resembled the one I knew. Since they didn’t even remember me, I assumed that meaningful interaction was impossible. That belief made me give up and stop visiting as often, something caregivers often mention as a common issue: families abandoning their loved ones.

I decided then to transform that misunderstanding into an opportunity for change by exploring how technology could improve interactions with Alzheimer’s patients. This project is my way of rethinking connection and care through empathy, design, and innovation.

Discover

Background research

According to Reisberg (1982), there are seven different stages of cognitive deterioration, during which a patient may exhibit a wide range of symptoms. These stages are typically grouped into three categories: early-stage dementia, middle-stage dementia, and late-stage (or severe) dementia. However, symptoms do not appear in the same way for every patient. In some cases, dementia may take 4 to 8 years to fully develop; in others, it can take 10 to 20 years. The type, order, and intensity of symptoms can vary significantly from one individual to another.

As the condition progresses, a patient’s personality and ability to interact with others, and with their surroundings, can change dramatically. Despite the wide array of symptoms, losing the capacity to feel joy or happiness is not among them.

Still, it is common for families to eventually rely on caregivers or care homes and, over time, reduce the frequency of their visits. According to Gilliard (1997), one of the main reasons some family members “disappear” or grow distant is because they struggle to understand and adapt to the patient’s ongoing personality changes. The confusion and frustration that these changes cause, both for the person with dementia and their loved ones, is often the result of a lack of understanding about the condition.

Some relatives manage to adapt and maintain fluent, meaningful interactions regardless of the stage. Others, however, visit less frequently and may begin to perceive their loved ones only through the lens of illness or disability (Clarke, as cited in Downs, 1997). This view, however, needs to shift. To truly support people with dementia, we must recognize that, even with many symptoms, they can still feel, connect, and engage with the world. The focus should be on adapting to their evolving ways of interaction, every single day.

Objectives

There are many limitations when it comes to enhancing interactions for people with dementia. These challenges stem from the various cognitive and physical symptoms they experience. However, difficulties with memory or even speech do not mean they are unable to understand emotions, as they continue to maintain a sense of self (Mills and Coleman, 1994). Therefore, throughout the design process, the goal was to explore and understand how they interact with people, places, and objects, identify what aspects of these interactions are working well and which are not, and accordingly, develop a solution that supports successful interactions in every instance.

Interviews

Once the foundational research on dementia was completed and the objectives were established, I decided to schedule interviews with caregivers and family members of people living with dementia. The purpose of these interviews was to understand how the different stakeholders interact, what aspects of these interactions they find enjoyable, and what they find frustrating.

Familiars

Through a series of interviews with relatives of people living with Alzheimer’s dementia, it became clear that families who have had time to gradually adapt to the disease’s progression are often able to care for their loved ones without relying on external caregivers. Many shared how they learned to recognize and accommodate changing preferences and needs, fostering more meaningful and less frustrating interactions.

For instance, when communication abilities began to decline, some patients shifted from storytelling to simply enjoying listening to others. Families adapted by spending more time speaking to them, knowing that presence and conversation still brought comfort. Changes in eating habits were also common. Several interviewees explained how patients started to prefer food that could be eaten with the hands, like fast food, because using cutlery had become difficult. Instead of insisting on traditional meals, families embraced these new preferences to support independence and dignity.

These stories reflect principles of reminiscence and validation therapy, approaches that support a person’s sense of identity and acknowledge their lived experience with empathy (Downs, 1997; Mills & Coleman, 1994; Gibson, 1994; Feil as cited in Neil & Wright, 2003).

Care-givers

Across various interviews with caregivers and relatives of people living in care homes, several common challenges emerged in the day-to-day interactions with dementia patients. One of the most frequently mentioned issues was the overwhelming workload faced by caregivers, which often limits their ability to engage meaningfully with each patient. Many caregivers are only able to provide the most essential care, while just a few go out of their way, often on their own time, to build more personal connections.

Despite these constraints, caregivers consistently expressed a desire to support the individuality of residents. Several shared creative efforts to help patients feel valued and capable. For example, one resident who had been a teacher was encouraged to hold informal lessons with visiting family members, while another, a former nun, was given the opportunity to lead an oratory group within the home for those who shared her faith.

Another recurring concern was the role of family members. Interviewees noted that some families overly rely on the care home’s services and withdraw from active participation, unaware of how crucial their involvement is. Their absence makes it harder for caregivers to provide personalized care, since family members hold key insights into the patient’s life history, preferences, and former social habits. Maintaining these relationships is vital to understanding how and why a person’s interactions evolve over time.

Empathy maps

Say

Think

Share stories.

Ask to do what the things they used to.

They are being left aside.

They are running out of time.

They wont be visited anymore.

Patients

Do

Feel

Not express easily.

Share knowledge.

Talk with people.

Want to listen to people.

Loneliness.

Abandonement.

Fear.

Confusion.

Say

Is not the person I remember.

The rest of the family is not helping.

I no longer know if what is saying is real or not.

Do

Rely too much in care-givers.

Force the interactions with the elderly familiars.

Fail to adapt to dementia conditions.

Stop visiting often.

Familiars

Think

The care-givers are taking good care of them.

They can talk with other elderly friends.

I can no longer trust them to be alone.

Feel

Confusion and frustration during the interactions.

Say

Time spent with patients must be quality time.

Listening is the key.

You must be careful with the words used.

Do

Care-givers

Think

I don't have time for them beyond the basic service because there are more patients to attend.

Feel

Define

Personas

Dementia patients

Needs: Emotional security, meaningful interactions, familiar environments.

Challenges: Memory loss, communication difficulties, reduced independence.

Behaviour and emotions:

Experience rapid or gradual changes in cognitive and physical abilities.
Feel sadness and frustration when they struggle to interact.
May not remember people or events but still feel emotional pain from abandonment.
Respond to emotional cues even when verbal communication declines.

Motivations:

To feel understood, connected, and safe.
To maintain a sense of identity and dignity through positive interaction.

Familiars

Needs: Guidance, emotional support, understanding of dementia.

Challenges: Emotional burnout, limited knowledge, feelings of helplessness.

Behaviour and emotions:

Often try to adapt to changes in the person with dementia.
May unintentionally force old patterns of interaction, leading to frustration.
Some become overwhelmed and withdraw or abandon caregiving roles.
Feel guilt and grief as relationships change.

Motivations:

To stay connected with their loved one.
To do what’s best, even when they feel unsure or unsupported.
To share responsibility with professional caregivers.

Care-givers

Needs: Time, support, communication tools, continuity of care.

Challenges: High workload, emotional strain, staff turnover.

Behaviour and emotions:

Often overworked, unable to fully connect with each patient.
Genuinely care and want to provide emotional support.
Use personal time to go beyond basic care when possible.
Struggle to pass on knowledge due to rotating staff or lack of systems.

Motivations:

To give quality time and preserve dignity for people with dementia.
To build trust with patients despite limited time and resources.
To collaborate better with family members and colleagues.

Insights

"Emotional connection matters more than memory"

Even when cognitive abilities decline, people with dementia continue to respond emotionally to tone, presence, and affection. They may forget names or events, but they still feel loved, abandoned, included, or frustrated. Interactions should prioritize emotional validation over factual accuracy.

"Mismatched expectations cause breakdowns in interaction"

Family members often expect people with dementia to behave as they used to, leading to forced interactions that frustrate both sides. Caregivers, on the other hand, may not have time or context to build those connections.

"Care quality depends on continuity and shared knowledge"

Vision statement

"I aim to facilitate more meaningful interactions between people with dementia and those who support them, such as family members and caregivers, by creating opportunities for shared experiences and mutual learning that enrich daily connection."

Ideate

Idea proposition

App

Product

A shared cloud-based platform to store and update key information about the patient, helping caregivers and family members adapt to evolving interaction needs.

A physical tool that enables family members and caregivers to access and contribute to the cloud, ensuring patients experience consistent and meaningful interactions.

Experience map

Comfortable

Detachable

Elegant

Elder people might not sacrifice comfort to wear something they are not use to.

People with dementia must wear something they are use to. Thus, the piece must adapt to them and not the other way around. This product must offer wearble options.

A jewellery piece that, though being customizable, does not look cheap or tacky

Discreet

Customizable

People with dementia should not be reminded of their illness by this product. Therfore, the jewellery piece should not classify them as patients, as conventional care wristbands do.

As a gift intended to be meaningful and reinforce a sense of identity, its design should be personalized for each elderly recipient.

Sketches

Prototype

3D models

3D printing

Sadness when a familiars abandon patients.

Frustration when patients don't cooperate.

Impatience when getting stuck in conversations.

Stress due to work demands.

Treat elders as patients.

Don't interact much because of the large patient load.

Adapt to the symptoms rather than to the person.

Renders

Mid-fidelity

References

Downs, Murna. 1997. “Emergence of a Person in Dementia Research.” In Ageing & Society 17 (5): 597-607. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X9700665X

Gibson, Faith. 1997. “Reminiscence and Recall.” Ageing & Society 15 (1): 150-152. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X00002282

Gilliard,J. 1995. The Experience of Lossin People with Dementia and their Carers.

Mills, Maria and Peter G. Coleman. 1994. “Nostalgic Memories in Dementia: A Case Study.” International Journal of Ageing and Human Development Vol 38, 3rd ed, 203-219. https://doi.org/10.2190/NCAJ-0G0L-VTQ4-V1L

Neal, Martin, Phillip B. Wright. 2003. Validation Therapy for Dementia. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD001394 Pandora. 2023. “The Mission And Vision.”

Pandora Jewelry. https://www.memora blecharms.com/pandora-concept/a bout-us.html

Reisberg, Barry, Steven H. Ferris, Mony J. de Leon and Thomas Crook. 1982. “The Global Deterioration Scale for assess ment of primary degenerative dementia.” The American Journal of Psychiatry, 139(9): 1136–1139. https://doi.or g/10.1176/ajp.139.9.1136

Yang, Yiming, Yuliang Zhao, Liming Xin, and Yu Sun. 2021. “Automated, High Accuracy, Remote Measurement of Heart Rate.” Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory. https:// doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.13.443967