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🧠 London, July 2025 — Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has introduced MinderCare, a pioneering NHS service that uses smart home technology to deliver continuous, remote care for individuals living with dementia. Developed by the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) Care Research & Technology Centre at Imperial College London, the service aims to improve quality of life, reduce hospital admissions, and support independent living.
🔍 How MinderCare Works The system deploys a discreet network of sensors in patients’ homes to monitor:
- Daily routines and movement
- Sleep quality and disturbances
- Vital signs, including heart and respiratory rates
These data points are securely transmitted to a dedicated clinical team via the Minder platform, a digital research system that enables real-time analysis and early intervention.
🏥 Clinical Integration and Support MinderCare is backed by:
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
- Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- LifeArc, a medical research charity
- NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, which provides infrastructure support
Led by Professor David Sharp, the initiative represents a decade of research and development in dementia care innovation.
🛏️ Technology and Privacy The system includes:
- Door, appliance, and motion sensors
- A bed mat that tracks sleep and vital signs
- No audio or video recording, preserving user privacy
The unobtrusive design ensures minimal disruption to daily life while enabling clinicians to detect early signs of infection, medication side effects, or behavioral changes.
👨👩👧 Benefits for Patients and Families MinderCare offers:
- Timely medical interventions, such as early detection of respiratory or urinary infections
- Medication monitoring, especially for sleep-related issues
- Peace of mind for families and carers through continuous oversight and direct communication with clinical teams
Professor Sharp emphasized the service’s potential:
“MinderCare trials a radically new way of dementia care that is anchored in the hospital but reaching out into people’s homes, with the aim of delivering cost-effective care that improves quality of life and reduces hospital admissions.”
📈 Next Steps The Trust aims to enroll 100 patients by September 2025 as part of a feasibility study in North West London. Referrals are already underway from GPs, hospital teams, and community health professionals.
MinderCare marks a significant step toward digitally enabled, personalized dementia care, offering a scalable model that could reshape how the NHS supports vulnerable populations at home.
