A Liverpool teen has been nominated for a national award after creating a dementia app with National Museums Liverpool.
Abdul Wase, 19, is one of three finalists in the Community category of Alzheimer's Society's Dementia Hero Awards. Announcing Abdul's nomination this week, the charity described the Toxteth teen as a "community icon" and "inspiration" for creating an app to help Yemeni elders and people with dementia "live culturally engaged lives".
He found out he's been shortlisted when he read an email from Carol Rogers, director of House of Memories, a National Museums Liverpool (NML) dementia awareness programme he made the app for. Abdul told the ECHO: "I was lost for words when I read the email.
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"I thanked them so much because they were the ones who supported me, who guided me, who helped me do this project. I wouldn't have been able to do it without them. I want to thank my mentors who've been by my side at all times."
Now studying communications and media at the University of Liverpool, Abdul started the project in 2018 after seeing his nan's memory and movement decline with dementia. The syndrome, which affects roughly 900,000 people in the UK, is associated with gradual decline of brain functioning, according to the NHS.
Abdul created the bilingual English and Arabic app to help people with dementia to connect with their heritage and trigger memories using artefacts, stories, traditions, music and images collated by people within their community. It features clothes, jewellery, a curved ceremonial dagger called a jambiya, and a clay oven called a taboon.
The project was run with a steering group of representatives of community organisations like the Liverpool Arabic Centre, Al-Taiseer Mosque, the Al-Ghazali Centre, and the Kuumba Imani Millennium Centre.
Carol, who's been involved with House of Memories since its launch in 2012, said: "We were just absolutely thrilled for Abdul because he's played such an integral role to support this project with Yemeni elders and young people in Liverpool 8. I'm just thrilled House of Memories continues to reach new audiences and engage with elders from different settings, so we're delighted."
House of Memories was created to provide a resource for people with dementia and their carers. As well as Abdul's app for the Yemeni community, it also has programmes in the USA, focused on African-Americans who are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's, and in Singapore, where it's in Mandarin, Tamil and Malay.
Abdul, who also volunteers at Al-Taiseer mosque and Al-Rahma Mosque, is up against two other finalists in his category of the Dementia Hero Awards. One is Paul Sparrey, who founded Family Favourites Radio, a free community radio station aimed at care homes specialising in dementia care, during lockdown. The other is Hartlepool Young Onset Dementia Group, which is run and lead by under-65s with dementia and their families.
The winner will be announced during a ceremony at The Grand Hotel, Birmingham on April 28. Abdul's description on the awards webpage reads: "Abdul Wase is a Liverpudlian youth volunteer and recognised as a community icon by his peers for supporting Yemeni elders and people with dementia.
"He led his peers and community, to better understand dementia and support elders to live culturally engaged lives and approached House of Memories to collaborate. Abdul is the inspiration for the development of Connecting with Yemeni Elders Heritage project, a new bi-lingual addition to the My House of Memories app."
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