In Nevada, USA, a Ballroom has a dance class specifically designed for elderly people with dementia. The “Dance With Me” program is the result of a partnership between The Ballroom of Reno and the Dementia Friendly Washoe County and focuses on engaging “people living with early onset dementia and their caregivers with the joy of dance, as well as helping them fight the effects of dementia”. The dance class took place once a week and was free to all participants.

The Portuguese citizen initiative for mental health – ManifestaMente – has released a free online kit designed to help people protect their mental health, identify trigger warnings and find solutions. The “Basic Mental Health Kit” consist of a 90 minute online course that provides participants with essential information about mental health, covering topics like how to care for our mental health or how to help someone experiencing mental health problems.

A robotics team composed of high-school students created a ride-on car for children with disabilities that is controlled through a joystick. The students based their model on a project by the global initiative GoBabyGo, which modifiy toy ride-on car by swapping the foot pedal for a button, making it easier for children with low mobility.

An independent initiative, with representatives from Singapore have created a catalogue of tips and tricks for a dementia-friendly home. There are millions of people in the world suffering from dementia but their homes and family members are often unprepared to cope with the challenges brought by this condition. However, the authors of the catalogue believe that “design can play an outsized role in shaping environments that empower people with dementia as well as their caregivers”.

Due to the Covid-19, many people all around the world had to adjust to a new reality of working from home. Working Den was created to help remote workers create a healthier, motivating and sustainable work environment. The website offers a range of free tools to improve health and well-being. To protect eyesight, users can be reminded to look away form the screen for 20 seconds every 20 minutes. There are home workout videos and simple exercises to avoid repetitive strain injuries and encourage workers to stay active.

Scott is a teenager who suffers from autism and is non-verbal. Due to his limited communication abilities, he can’t always warn his parents of when he needs to go to the bathroom. When the need arises, Scott simply starts to take of his clothes – a signal for his parents to take him to the bathroom. However, especially at night when Scott is alone in his room, his parents have no way of knowing when he needs to use the toilet and are often too late.

Scott is a teenager who suffers from autism and is non-verbal. So, his father Alan decided to put his love for invention to use and build him “Scott’s Peg Board”, in the hopes that it would help his son communicate.

Pappardelle (username on the Instructables website) has a family member who suffers from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) as was exhibiting symptoms similar to tetraplegia (complete loss of muscular function, inability to sit upright and need for specialised hoisting). This meant that it was a challenge to transport the person between the two floor of their house.

The innovator’s grandmother suffers from arthritis and shared with her grandson that, as she had gotten older, she was having difficulties preforming everyday tasks, like reading. “Among a list of activities was turning the pages of a newspaper. The arthritis in her hands make it hard for her to separate the pages”, her grandson explains.
So the grandson decided to create a device that would her separate the pages: “after brainstorming and testing multiple designs, I came up with a simple tool that quickly and easily separates newspaper pages”.

Marna Pacheco adopted a little girl, Millie, who suffers from complex developmental trauma disorder and severe post-traumatic stress disorder. She has low cognitive abilities, is mostly nonverbal and has trouble socializing, as a result of the early childhood trauma she suffered in the orphanage.

Amy Jandrisevits used to work as a pediatric oncology social worker, helping children cope with their diseases, hospitalizations and treatments. In her work she would often make use of play therapy, often involving dolls. Amy is also a skilled crafter and for many years has crafted handmade dolls. “Even when I was a social worker, I thought it was important to have dolls available to the kids because everyone should have something to hold”, she says.

When she was 6-years-old. Leah Zelaya was diagnosed with a rare type of neuromuscular disease called scapuloperoneal spinal muscular atrophy (SPSMA). Due to the disease, Leah slowly began to lose muscle tissue and has difficulty with activities that require the use of fine motor skills. So, simple thing like getting dressed are a daily challenge for her.

Dansin Wanjohi lives in Mwea, Kenya, and works as an agent for M-Pesa, a mobile money transfer service, a job which requires him to handle cash everyday. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Kenyan Ministry of Health urged the population to replace cash transactions with electronic payments, to help stop the spread of the virus. However, in much of the country, cash is still the preferred method of payments so Wanjohi decided to come with a solution that would make cash transactions safer.

A group of 4 researchers, who met as colleagues at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, developed Covid Controls, a website that helps people who need or want to travel during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mohit Shah, one of the developers, says that they created the website “because we saw there was no comprehensive Covid-19 dashboard specifically geared towards travelers, especially at a time when the situation is changing so rapidly.”

In the United States, some governmental agencies dedicated to elderly care, like the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and the Alabama Department of Senior Services (ADSS) have embarked in a pilot project to combat the loneliness and isolation of senior caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Partnering with Ageless Innovation, a robot manufacturer, these government agencies will give robotic companion pets to isolated seniors. These robotic pets were designed to look, sound and feel like real animals. They have a “heartbeat” and respond to the owner’s voice and touch.

A team at the University of Southampton, led by professors Paul Elkington and Hywel Morgan, have developed an innovative device to provide protection for healthcare workers in the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It is really important to minimise the risk of infection for medical staff and stop them getting sick at the peak of the pandemic, so that they can care for others”, explains Professor Elkington.

Around the world, in countries experiencing lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, neighborhoods came up with a joint solution to help children cope with the isolation: giant teddy bear hunts. The initiative was inspired by the popular children’s book “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”. People are placing teddy bears on windows or their front yards so kids can walk around their neighborhood spotting as many bears as they can. It is a fun activity that children can enjoy while maintaining social distancing and keeping safe.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, seniors were one of the demographic groups most at risk. And, while those living in nursing home and assisted living facilities were taken care of by a network of support, many other seniors who lived by themselves were feeling the impact of the pandemic. Because a great majority of the elderly population is not familiarly with technology and doesn’t have access to smart devices, they were left particularly isolated.

Following the health and safety measures recommended during the Covid-19 pandemic was a challenge to some people, especially those dealing with disabilities or difficult health condition. That was the case of Christina Farley’s son, Zachary, who is autistic. Christina has received a special face mask for him, with superheroes on it, but her son was very uncomfortable with the feeling of the elastic around his ears and wasn’t able to wear it.

Many severely disabled people rely on the help of other to perform their daily life activities. However, during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the population being advised to stay home and practice social distancing, people with disabilities had to face the tough choice between keeping safe and trying to live independently or continue to have contact with their carers and potentially putting themselves at risk.