Real-time support for carers on the frontline of dementia care
A real-time training app that gives carers personalised, bite-sized dementia support exactly when and where it’s needed. Built with Scienap and funded by Ufi VocTech Trust, it helps carers feel confident, reduce risk, and deliver more compassionate care in the moment.
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TL;DR
“In the Moment” Dementia Training is a first of its kind tool designed to support carers while they work. 3 Sided Cube supported Scienap, who were funded by Ufi VocTech Trust, to build an app that combines individual profiles with contextual data to deliver bite sized training exactly when and where it is needed. From pre clinical care at home through to professional community support and clinical hospital settings, it provides guidance that adapts to the carer, and is personalised for the person with dementia, their environment, and the situation.
This approach aligns closely with the NHS and social services agenda to move care closer to home, supporting carers earlier and helping reduce the escalation of care needs over time.
Impact
A smarter, personalised training loop that empowers carers, reduces harm, and improves patient outcomes in real time.
PROBLEM
Across the UK, dementia cases are rising sharply. Thirty percent of hospital patients already live with dementia, and carers across hospitals, care homes, and social services are under significant pressure. Training is often classroom based and difficult to access, leaving staff and family carers without the knowledge they need in the moment.
The majority of dementia care is delivered by unpaid carers at home, many of whom have little or no formal training. Without early, accessible support, situations can escalate, leading to avoidable hospital admissions, higher stress for carers, and increased long term care costs for councils and health services.
Without immediate, personalised guidance, carers may struggle to handle common but critical situations such as a person refusing food, becoming distressed, or wandering unsafely. This leads to poorer outcomes for both carers and people living with dementia.
In the eyes of the user:
Carers wanted practical, bite sized guidance in challenging situations, without being overwhelmed or made to feel inadequate. People living with dementia needed more personalised and compassionate care delivered by carers who felt supported and confident.
Approach
Discovery and design
We supported Scienap in delivering this project, funded by Ufi VocTech Trust, working with dementia leads across the NHS and social services to ensure every decision was grounded in frontline realities.
The 3 Sided Cube role focused on product strategy, design, and technical support, helping Scienap shape and validate the solution within a real world care context.
Build and iterate
Following the same approach as the Scienap overdose prevention platform, we developed the app using FlutterFlow for the front end and Golang for the back end. Iterative builds were tested with NHS and social services staff, ensuring the experience was practical, trusted, and usable in high pressure environments.
Personalisation framework
We supported the development of matching algorithms within a structured learning framework, linking personal dementia profiles with contextual signals such as location, time of day, and observed behaviour. This ensures carers receive guidance in a format that works for them, whether animation, audio, or text, and keeps the framework flexible enough to expand into other conditions over time.
Solution
The In the Moment Dementia Training ecosystem delivers:
Frontline app for carers Bite sized guidance tailored to the carer and personalised to the context and situation.
Personal learning experience for professionals.
Tracks progress and outcomes and supports the awarding of a certificate to recognise learning and competency.
Scalable framework Ready to expand into other conditions and contexts, including autism, stress, and anxiety, without rebuilding the core platform.
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CHALLENGES WE TACKLED
Making training immediate and contextual
Building trust and simplicity into every interaction
Designing a scalable personalisation framework without overcomplicating the experience
IMPACT
A working proof of concept app tested with NHS and social services staff, covering dementia scenarios such as sleep disruption and patient safety.
Strong interest from hospitals, care homes, social services, and unpaid carers.
Clear potential to reduce long term care costs for councils by supporting carers earlier and helping people remain safely at home for longer, where 51% of care home residents are state funded.
A significant step toward transforming vocational training by delivering support where it matters most, in the moment.
Want to build digital tools that transform how people learn and care in real world contexts? Let’s talk.
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