A cloud‐based application for cognitive stimulus therapy for the Togolese elderly population

Abstract

AbstractThe diagnosis, management, and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia are still in their early stage in Togo, a small West African country with a population of 8,966,632 and a percentage of the population over 65 years old of 3.57%. With a steadily growing elderly population, Togo has an old‐age dependency ratio of 94.5%. As clinical psychologists, practicing neuropsychological assessments, we receive more and more patients referred by medical doctors for symptoms affecting memory and reasoning. In our desire to contribute to the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and to fight against the early onset of symptoms in our population, we propose a cloud‐based therapeutic and preventive tool called “Susu” (which is the name of memory in our local language). Susu is a cloud‐based application that allows people at risk of developing dementia to save content from their daily lives, in pictures or videos, with precise descriptions and annotations. This includes, for example, photos or videos of family members, places visited, and content specific to the person’s culture of origin. These pieces of information are stored in the cloud and will later be used in cognitive stimulation therapy based on the data stored in the cloud when the first symptoms of memory loss appear. The whole eSusu platform is a digital mental health marketplace dedicated to the prevention and care of dementia, where professionals and patients with their families can meet, exchange, and go through the process together, from assessment to therapy. As we say in our culture, the person who has lost his memory has simply forgotten the path leading to the memory hut: this memory hut is always preserved. Our commitment is simply to re‐draw the path to that memory house.