A new app pioneered by entrepreneurs in Kingston is hoping to revolutionize elderly care.

Remind Me Care was founded by Simon Hooper and Etienne Abrahams after their personal experiences with caring for people in their own lives led them to formulate a plan for improving engagement by using technology.

According to material released by the team the new digital platform ReMeLife, and its associated app Remind Me Care, offers "portable person-centric digital activities, such as cognitive stimulation therapy, games and remote family engagement, and care solutions, such as hydration and medication alerts, for consumers and care organisations."

At its heart, though, ReMeLife is software designed to make connecting those in elderly care and the people looking after them easier through a knowledge of their habits, stories and interests.

Speaking to the Surrey Comet, Mr Hooper described his personal realization that engaging with the story of a person in need of care could improve their quality of life and the way they are being looked after.

After an elderly Scottish man in the area was refusing help, Mr Hooper approached him and the pair bonded over a mutual interest in sailing.

As it turned out in that instance, the man had been sunk three times in the Atlantic during the Second World War.

Just talking about those experiences helped Mr Hooper engage with him as carers had not been able to and ultimately he welcomed the extra social and medical care that was needed.

"I discovered the power of story telling," Mr Hooper said.

"The ability to engage with someone when you know their story

"Everytime you get to know a person and share commonalities, you start to help...things change," he added.

Having bonded at the pub, Mr Hooper and Mr Abrahams realized they had shared experiences of how talking about interests and personal history with those in need of care can help improve outcomes.

"After I met my business partner we found that all along the care journey — from diagnosis through to end of life — none of that happens. Many carers didn't know the person adequately but you can use technology to achieve that," Mr Hooper said.

This was the genesis behind ReMeLife.

Users of the app (pictured) open it to find simple boxes with images that detail the interests, anecdotes, habits and the general background of the person being cared for so that carers can more easily engage with them in a friendly way, each day.

The app also allows carers to connect directly with other people, such as family members, in their "care circle" in order to share any activities or new developments like family photos that might be of interest to the person being cared for, for example.

With higher-than-average rates in Surrey generally and Kingston in particular for dementia and associated illnesses, pioneering the app in the area was timely and proved a hit.

After a successful stint at Kingston Hospital — who are hosting demonstrations of what the technology can do throughout this week — the app was validated by the NHS as having proved a useful tool in connecting with those in social care such as people being treated for illnesses like dementia.

"It's been shown that our app has a clinically proven ability to reduce agitation through knowing the person, and often reduce other medication as a result. At Kingston Hospital that will lead to earlier discharges of patients and that's what we're looking to do," Mr Hooper said.

The ReMeLife app is free to download for smartphones and tablets.

For more information about Remind Me Care and information on how to get the app, go to https://remelife.com

Information on the results of its trial at Kingston Hospital can be read at: www.kingstonhospital.nhs.uk/news-events/news/remindmecare-at-kingston-hospital.aspx

A formal demonstration of the app is taking place at Kingston Hospital all this week.