People with dementia try out a clock with everyday reminders

A number of clocks are available that have large, clear displays. Some give additional information to help keep track of time, and a few let you set reminders too. 

But no reminder clocks give an easy view of what tasks have been completed and which haven’t. 

Relish developed the Day Hub day clock based on feedback and research over years. It helps with daily routines, so a person can remain independent for as long as possible.

The Day Hub has a list of daily tasks beside a clear display of the time and date. You set tasks depending on what you want to be reminded to do every day. 

When it’s time to do a task, a flashing orange alert goes off with a sound, which you can select from a range of alert sounds. 

You ‘tick off’ the task by pressing a button – this makes the task button turn green so you can see you’ve done it. 

We asked people affected by dementia in Staffordshire to try out the Day Hub at home to see how useful they found it. 

Ticking things off 

Julia lives on her own and was really pleased with her Day Hub. 

‘I look at it all the time,’ she says. ‘It’s in the kitchen, so it’s right there. I think I got used to it quite quickly!’ 

Rob, her son, said they’d set up reminders for mealtimes and things like morning snacks and cups of tea. 

‘We thought we’d keep it simple to start with, with just six things, and then we can always look at adding some things in later,’ he said. 

Julia said she’d previously been forgetting some meals, and they’ve since added reminders for her to take medications too. 

Now, with this here in the house, I know exactly what I should be doing as and when. 

‘It’s a bit more peace of mind,’ says Rob. 

You can see if you’ve missed a task, since it will still be unticked on the list, but Julia says she always ticks things off. 

Rob notes that, even before an alert goes off, you can see what tasks are coming up because the whole list is there. 

‘If I didn’t have it, I don’t know what I’d be doing!’ says Julia. 

Help to set up 

‘The device was easy to set up in about 10 minutes,’ says Julia, ‘but this was done by my son.’ 

‘We do not think that Mum would have been able to set it up on her own,’ Rob adds. 

Ann and her husband David were glad of help from Nicola at Alzheimer's Society when setting up the alerts on their Day Hub. Nicola managed to do this without looking at the instructions. 

The 24-hour format confused Ann at first, but she got Nicola to change the time to a 12-hour clock. 

To make it easier for more people to set the Day Hub up for themselves, Relish has been introducing step-by-step online videos along with frequently asked questions. 

David and Ann both thought they’d find videos helpful. 

Daily focus 

Although Tracy found the Day Hub relatively easy to set up for her mother, Vivian, its focus on daily tasks didn’t suit them. 

Tracy said it would be ‘totally impractical’ for either of them to keep reprogramming different or one-off tasks. 

‘It’s easy enough to use on a daily basis if you wanted to be reminded of the same thing every day,’ she says, ‘but not if your daily needs change and you have to reset it again.’ 

Tracy also noted that you need to find a place for the Day Hub within reach of a power point, since it needs to be plugged in. 

Rob agreed that it would be good to be able to program one-off tasks as well, especially if you could do this remotely using an app. Julia and he use other ways to keep on top of these. 

Lost without it 

Ann used the Day Hub to alert her about mealtimes and medications she might miss otherwise. 

‘I think it’s a good thing,’ she says. ‘It’s got everything you want on it. 

‘The Day Hub is in the living room. It’s my main clock now, which is brilliant. 

It has helped alleviate anxiety that I might forget to take my medication. The changing colour of the ticks help me know if I have taken it. 

‘I think it is value for money – if I needed someone to come and prompt me, this would cost more.’ 

It’s also made a difference for David. He needed to prompt Ann to do a lot of routine things before, which was frustrating for both of them. 

‘It’s taken a lot of pressure off for me,’ says David. ‘It’s definitely helped both of us. We’d be lost without it.’ 

The Day Hub day clock is £149.99 plus VAT in our online shop. There’s also a Day Connect day clock (£83.33 plus VAT) with a smaller display, which you can pair with the Day Hub to get alerts in another room. 

People living with dementia, and anyone purchasing on their behalf, can buy these and many other helpful products VAT free – saving 20%. Simply tick the box stating that you’re eligible for VAT relief at checkout.