A Toxteth teen said it was "wonderful" to see his grandad captivated by a free dementia app the teen helped create.
The retired milkman was "clicking, clicking, clicking" his way through his grandson Abdul Wase's iPad, not wanting to get off, despite not using any gadgets or Apple devices. Abdul, 18, said: "He was just smiling, because he just remembered a lot of things. There's a cow in the app, and when he saw that, he remembered a cow they had in the village."
Part of National Museums Liverpool's (NML) "award-winning dementia awareness programme", House of Memories, the Memories of Yemen app is "a digital first for the UK", according to NML. Seeing his nan's memory and movement decline with dementia inspired Abdul to help create the bilingual app, which uses "artefacts, stories, traditions and images collated by others within the community" to help people from the Yemeni community who are living with the degenerative condition to connect with their heritage and trigger memories.
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Abdul found it hard seeing his nan "get angry and upset at things, or not understand", particularly when she kept trying to leave the house despite fears she'd get lost. His nan's dementia, which causes memory loss, has progressed too far for her to benefit from the app, but Abdul hopes it will help people with earlier stages of the condition, which roughly 900,000 people in the UK have.
He said the Memories of Yemen app even triggers memories for people like his grandad, who doesn't have dementia. Abdul, who just finished sixth form and hopes to study communications and media at the University of Liverpool, told the ECHO: "[The memory] won't stay there for long, but for that moment in time, you'll have a laugh with the family member, and it will also bring more of a connection between the youngsters and their elderly."
The app was co-created with Liverpool's Yemeni community, with the help of organisations like the Liverpool Arabic Centre, Al-Taiseer Mosque, the Al-Ghazali Centre, and the Kuumba Imani Millennium Centre. Members of the community offered up their own clothes and jewellery for the app, which features music alongside images of objects used in cooking, entertainment and rural life. This includes a curved ceremonial dagger called a jambiya, and a taboon, a clay oven for making bread.
Carol Rogers, director of House of Memories, said: "All of our work with House of Memories is rooted in community creation – and Abdul has become a bit of a star. He's got a real passion for his Yemeni heritage, and he feels very strongly about the importance of continuing the traditions of his community, as well as increasing the wider community's understanding of Yemeni culture.
"Memories of Yemen is about trying to keep people connected with families. It's in Arabic and English and is a lovely project, positioned so that the young people in the Yemeni community can help us to connect with Yemeni elders. It's a UK first, with potential to be adapted to more communities. It's an integral part of our work at House of Memories to be in our city's neighbourhoods, powerfully connected within communities."
