Stress-free travel for dementia patients: apply for funding

The Welsh Government and the Department for Transport are investing in a new competition to help people living with dementia. The aim is to find ways of making it less stressful for them to travel to hospital and attend appointments. Proposals can be innovative approaches or technical solutions.

There are around 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK. By 2050, there are likely to be be 150 million people worldwide living with dementia.

These people are often affected by other health conditions and need to attend hospital. This can be for both out-patient appointments or emergency departments. People with dementia tend to stop driving within 3 years of diagnosis. They can find it difficult to plan journeys, travel alone and deal with new environments. This can sometimes cause them to become too anxious to attend hospital.

This is a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition run in partnership with Innovate UK. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) is managing the competition.

The competition is in 2 phases:

• Phase 1 – proof of concept development contracts of up to £50,000
• Phase 2 – demonstrator projects of up to £175,000

Any type of organisation can apply but it is expected this competition to be particularly suitable for SMEs.

For further information, please click here.