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CogniHealth has been announced as winner of The Next Big Innovation competition during Alzheimer Scotland’s annual dementia conference held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC). The conference is the flagship event of Scotland’s Dementia Awareness Week (4-10 June), which sets out the latest in dementia policy, practice and research.

Alzheimer Scotland launched The Next Big Innovation opportunity earlier this year to find the next big innovation in dementia care, offering up to £10,000 as a prize fund to help turn a new idea into reality. Harnessing smartphone technology, the CogniCare app is a one-stop platform for dementia care, which aims to provide personalised support for carers looking after someone with dementia.

Pooja Jain, co-founder of the CogniCare app, accepted the award from Henry Simmons, Chief Executive from Alzheimer Scotland. Pooja said: “Winning the Next Big Innovation is such a great validation. It’s given us a lot of confidence in what we’re going with the CogniCare app.”

Congratulating the winner and other finalists Henry Simmons, Chief Executive of Alzheimer Scotland, said: “Our first year of the Next Big Innovation has been a great success; we received several creative, competitive pitches for new ideas help people live well with dementia, as well as supporting their carers, partners and families. I’d like to congratulate CogniHealth for winning our first Next Big Innovation competition and for all they have achieved so far. We look forward to supporting their idea to become a reality.”

Once up and running, the CogniCare app will carers to monitor and track the progression of the dementia.  The team are currently conducting impact studies across Scotland to make sure the app the experiences and needs of carers.

The Alzheimer Scotland conference also saw the launch of the newly created Scottish Brain Health Register. The register is led by the Scottish Dementia Informatics Platform (part of the Scottish Dementia Research Consortium) and supported by Alzheimer Scotland. For more information visit www.sdrc.scot/news