Caregiver.tools

This page is a guide of free digital tools to help individuals with dementia and their caregivers. We prefer free tools with no subscriptions.

Dementia Day Clock

Dementia Day Clock is a free web app that shows the day, time, and date in a way that’s easy to understand for people with cognitive disabilities. It’s also specifically designed to work on older phones and tablets, giving new life to unused devices. Caregivers can remotely set a custom message to be displayed on the clock.

Apple’s Assistive Access

If the person with dementia has a newer iPhone or iPad device (running iOS/iPadOS 17 or later, i.e. introduced since 2017–2018), Apple provides Assistive Access, a simplified user interface designed specifically for people with cognitive disabilities. See Apple’s user guides to Assistive Access for iPhone and Assistive Access for iPad, as well as support video:

Apple’s AirTag

Apple makes a small tracking device called AirTag, useful for finding commonly misplaced items like keys, a purse, or even a remote control. Simply attach an AirTag to an item, and then use an iPhone or iPad to show its location or make the AirTag play a sound.

AirTag requires an iPhone or iPad with iOS/iPadOS 14.5 or later. This means that devices since 2015 (namely iPhone 6s, iPad mini 4) or newer will work.

See Apple’s user guide on how to register an AirTag with an iPhone.