Why Mario the 'dementia robot' won't work.

I'm not one for the Daily Mail normally but on Sunday I was at my mother in laws and I was skimming the pages when I met Mario the 'dementia robot' (here is the article). Mario is to be future of dementia care where people with dementia find solace in a robot who can interact with them to be their main social contact (and no it's not April the 1st).

Mario can be a person with dementia's new best friend; offering reminders and prompting reminiscence sessions with the user. He can carry items in his pouch and his 'all seeing eye' can find lost items for the person around the house.

Obviously there is enough potential here for a city council to run a trial of Mario's for people with mild to moderate dementia and whilst I wish them all the best, the training and experience I have had in this field leads me to this position.

Technology can be a great enhancer of care and it can support the person and others to interact with them in a meaningful way. This is why I set up InteractiveMe in the first place. Technology should not and can not replace care but enhance it's delivery. I believe that Mario is not the future but what he can do help us realise firstly how desperate the situation is out there (in terms of social care) and secondly that there are technologies out there which can improve person-centred care.

The (Tom) Kitwood flower is an important beacon in dementia care as it tells us what the psychological and social needs of the person are even as their disease progresses. I won't go through all the petals but what I will ask you to do is look at the flower's petals, have a think about each one and then answer this question.

Can Mario meet all these needs?

This is no doubt an exciting time to be part of dementia care and technology will I believe become a part of our everyday lives in supporting people with dementia. However, it can not and will not replace the care that a human can bring another human. It's as simple as that.