REMIND · Project

Smart Reminding Technology That Helps Dementia Patients Follow Daily Routines

healthPrototypeTRL 4Thin data (2/5)

Imagine your grandparent keeps forgetting to take their medication or eat lunch. Now imagine a smart home system that gently nudges them at the right moment, in the right way, so they actually listen. That's what REMIND worked on — building reminding tools that understand when and how to prompt people with dementia, using behavioral science to make the reminders stick instead of being ignored. A team of 16 organizations across 10 countries pooled expertise in psychology, computing, and elder care to design these solutions.

By the numbers

consortium partners collaborating on the reminding solution

countries represented in the research network

EUR 976,500

EU contribution to develop reminding technologies for dementia

industrial partners including SMEs involved in development

The business problem

What needed solving

Millions of people with dementia struggle to follow daily routines — taking medication, eating meals, attending appointments — which puts enormous pressure on caregivers and care facilities. Current reminder systems (alarms, notes, basic apps) are often ignored because they don't account for the patient's behavior, context, or cognitive state. Care providers need smarter reminding tools that patients actually respond to, reducing missed medications and lowering the cost of round-the-clock human supervision.

The solution

What was built

The project delivered a final demonstration of a reminding solution designed for smart environments, combining behavioral science with computational techniques like context-aware computing and soft computing. With only 2 total deliverables, the outputs are focused: a working demonstration of the technology and supporting research on user-centered design for dementia care.

Audience

Who needs this

Care home operators managing residents with dementiaHealth tech companies building connected health devices for elderly patientsSmart home platform providers expanding into aging-in-place marketsHome care agencies looking to support independent living for seniorsPharmaceutical companies seeking medication adherence solutions

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Elder Care & Assisted Living

any

Target: Care home operators and assisted living providers

If you are a care home operator dealing with residents who miss medications, meals, or scheduled activities — this project developed a smart reminding solution that uses behavioral science to improve compliance. With 16 partners across 10 countries contributing expertise in dementia care and connected health, the system was designed through direct engagement with caregivers and patients. It could reduce the burden on your staff while improving resident safety.

Digital Health & MedTech

SME

Target: Connected health device manufacturers and health app developers

If you are a health tech company building products for aging populations — this project produced research-backed methods for context-aware reminding in smart environments. The consortium included 3 industrial partners and 3 SMEs working alongside 10 universities, ensuring the technology meets both ISO and medical software standards. Licensing or building on this work could give your product a scientifically validated approach to patient compliance.

Home Automation & Smart Living

mid-size

Target: Smart home platform providers targeting elderly users

If you are a smart home company looking to expand into the aging-in-place market — this project developed computational techniques for deploying reminders within smart environments. The research combined pervasive computing with user-centered design tested with real dementia patients. Integrating these methods into your platform could open a large and growing market segment of seniors who want to live independently longer.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to license or adopt this reminding technology?

The project was funded with EUR 976,500 under the MSCA-RISE scheme, which focuses on knowledge exchange rather than product commercialization. Licensing terms would need to be negotiated directly with the University of Ulster as coordinator. Since this was a research-stage project, costs would likely involve further development investment beyond any licensing fee.

Can this scale to hundreds or thousands of users in a care network?

The project produced a final demonstration of the reminding solution, but scaling evidence is not available in the project data. The consortium's 10 universities and 3 industrial partners built the technical foundations, but deploying at scale would require additional engineering and infrastructure work. The computational techniques developed were designed for smart environments, suggesting room for deployment across multiple connected settings.

Who owns the intellectual property and can I license it?

The University of Ulster coordinated the project and is the primary contact for IP discussions. With 16 consortium partners across 10 countries, IP ownership may be shared according to the consortium agreement. Any licensing arrangement would need to account for contributions from the 3 industrial partners and 3 SMEs involved.

Does this comply with medical device regulations?

The project objective specifically mentions developing software conforming to ISO and medical standards. Based on available project data, the consortium included partners experienced in medical-grade software development. However, full regulatory certification (e.g., CE marking as a medical device) would likely require additional validation steps beyond what the project delivered.

How long would it take to integrate this into our existing care platform?

The project ran from 2017 to 2022 and produced a final demonstration of the reminding solution. Based on available project data, integration timelines would depend on your existing infrastructure and how closely it matches the smart environment setup used in the project. Expect a development phase to adapt the research outputs to production-grade software.

Is there evidence that patients actually follow the reminders?

Improving compliance was a core goal of the project — the full title references improving compliance to reminders. The approach combined behavioral science with computational techniques specifically to make reminders more effective. The final demonstration deliverable showcased the reminding solution, but specific compliance rate data is not available in the project summary.

Consortium

Who built it

The REMIND consortium brings together 16 partners across 10 countries — an unusually broad international network. However, the balance tilts heavily toward academia: 10 universities versus only 3 industrial partners (19% industry ratio). The 3 SMEs in the consortium suggest some commercial interest, but this is primarily a research and staff-exchange network rather than a product development pipeline. For a business looking to adopt this technology, the University of Ulster (UK) is the entry point, and the geographic spread across Europe, South Korea, Argentina, and Colombia indicates the solution was designed with diverse care contexts in mind. The low industry ratio means commercialization will require additional business partners to bring this to market.

UNIVERSITY OF ULSTERCoordinator · UK
LULEA TEKNISKA UNIVERSITETparticipant · SE
UNIVERSIDAD TECNOLOGICA NACIONALpartner · AR
FUNDACION AGEING SOCIAL LABparticipant · ES
UNIVERSITY OF GALWAYparticipant · IE
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZEparticipant · IT
ACADEMISCH ZIEKENHUIS GRONINGENparticipant · NL
UNIVERSIDAD DE JAENparticipant · ES
ORTHOKEY ITALIA SRLparticipant · IT
HOGSKOLAN I HALMSTADparticipant · SE

How to reach the team

University of Ulster, United Kingdom — reach out to the School of Computing or Connected Health research group

Order a report on this consortium See UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore licensing REMIND's reminding technology for your care facility or health tech product? SciTransfer can connect you directly with the research team and help structure a collaboration.

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