1

Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE

INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

A Mobile Application to Organize Information while Incorporating Cognitive based Games

Rylee Nepple
Harrison High School
December 2018
 2
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

Abstract
Dementia affects nearly 50 million people worldwide. The condition causes cognitive

deterioration and can cause the patient to forget anything from minor details to their own name.

The purpose of this study was to create a mobile application to store and organize information

and provide memory games in a singular location. The application includes a personal

information page, emergency contacts, medical history, a daily schedule, a photo album of

friends and family, and links to memory games. These elements play a huge role in a patient's

life, and by creating a place where all this information is kept together, patients with dementia

will have an easier time navigating the important information. Memory games are included to

provide a place to work on keeping cognitive skills sharp. The aspect of the photo album was

implemented so the patient can remember their friends/families names and faces while also being

able to contact them. The application was developed through OutSystems coding platform. After

the application was developed, a user profile was made so that any kinks in the system would be

noticed and could be corrected. The application was developed using this process and switching

back and forth from the creator to the user. Many of the programmed pages work exactly as

intended however, there are just as many that still did not work properly. Overall, the application

does not yet serve its intended purpose, as there is no way for the user to save the information

they input. This setback impacts the usage of the application, as it cannot currently be used to

store any important information at all. This is due to the creator's limited knowledge of the

coding platform. However, the basic format and all elements of the application have been

programmed into the application. Also, the application is currently a computer software, but
 3
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

there are plans to further develop it into a mobile application after it has been modified so the

user can save their information.

 4
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

A Mobile Application to Organize Information while Incorporating Cognitive based Games

There are approximately 50 million people worldwide who have dementia, and there are

nearly ten million new cases every year. Alzheimer’s is the leading type of dementia, making up

60-70% of all dementia cases. Dementia is a syndrome that affects cognitive functions, including

memory skills, thinking capabilities, learning capacity, and orientation. People with dementia are

often left confused and unaware of what is going on, with poor memory skills to help them figure

these things out. As dementia advances, this confusion only gets worse. Patients will forget

where they live, who their family members are, how old they are, and even their own name.

Dementia is one of the hardest conditions for an unaffected family member to deal with, as there

is no known cure. Family members can only hope for a slow decline as they watch their loved

ones forget who they are. Current treatments do not cure or even slow progressive dementia;

however, there are drug treatments that can temporarily improve symptoms. Due to the fact that

medical information is such a vital part of these patients’ every day lives, there needs to be one

easy to maneuver place to store all this information. With today’s increasing understanding and

usage of technology, a logical place to store this information is an online platform. By creating a

safe place for necessary medical information to be stored, the patient will have a much easier

time understanding where they need to go and when for appointments. The electronic platform

also allows for other information to be stored, such as emergency contacts, a daily schedule,

photos of family members, and even cognitive-based games. By putting all this information

together into one secure location, the patient will only have to know how to operate one

application. Emergency contacts are essential in dementia patients, as they are prone to accident

and often need emergency assistance. A daily schedule will help patients remember
 5
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

appointments, when to take medicine, and any other daily occurrences. By incorporating a photo

album, patients can review their family and friends as often as needed in an effort to remember

names and faces. Cognitive games allow the patient to work on keeping memory skills sharp, an

important aspect in the lives of dementia patients. Overall, by storing all this important

information in one secure location, a service is being provided for patients affected by dementia

to have an organized database with all their essential information while providing an outlet to

work on keeping their condition within the realms of control.

Literature Review
Current literature about the treatment of dementia focuses mostly on the medical aspect

of treatment targets. According to Management of Alzheimer's disease: Role of Existing

Therapies, Traditional Medicines and New Treatment Targets, “The newer agents include

molecules targeting τ-protein like modulators of τ- kinases or phosphates” (Malve 2017).

Medicated treatments have been assisting in the treatment of Alzheimer's since doctors knew

what Alzheimer's was. The treatments are constantly getting more advanced and are getting

closer and closer to a vaccine. Many theories speculate what might work as a vaccine, such as

“antioxidants, metal chelators, metal-protein attenuating compounds, and metal complexes”

(Malve 2017). However, not all of these theories have yet been expanded upon. Other ideas for

treatment of the disease include cell-replacement therapies, combination therapy, and nootropics.

There are also ways of having a family member or caretaker to help in preventing the decline of

memory skills and cognitive ability. Non-doctors play a big role in the health of a patient, and

can assist the patient’s memory skills by playing memory-based games or by using a cognitive

approach to learning. According to Increasing Academic Motivation and Cognition in Reading,

 6
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

Writing, and Mathematics: Meaning-Making Strategies, “the cognitive approach to teaching is a

learner-centered approach that takes into consideration the environment or situational context in

which the learner learns” (Winstead 2004). By assisting the patient in a teaching-like method, the

patient can better work to keep up their cognitive skills. Everybody processes information

differently, and by knowing how to best help the patient learn, non-doctors can help in reducing

the decline of cognitive abilities in Alzheimer’s patients. Improving the Diagnostic Accuracy of

the RBANS in Mild Cognitive Impairment with Construct- Consistent Measures explains how

patients with Alzheimer's compared to those with suspected mental deficiencies but no diagnosis,

early onset Alzheimer's, and those with no mental disabilities on the RBANS indexes (Winstead

2004). These indexes are a series of twelve cognitive tests including memory, naming,

orientation, fluency, and recall. As to be expected, those with early onset Alzheimer's scored the

lowest, followed closely by those with normal Alzheimer's. Both groups scored the lowest in

memory and recall. Those with suspected mental deficiencies scored only slightly lower than

those with no mental deficiencies on all twelve tests.

Coding apps are used to “support literacy instruction and develop coding literacy”

(Hutchison, Nadolny, 2015). Coding literacy is a “increasingly important and evolving form of

literacy” (Hutchison, Nadolny, 2015). If you are literate in coding, then you can examine mobile

apps and use those skills to support literacy instruction. Coding apps are designed to teach

students logical thinking and other such skills required for coding computer programs. These

coding apps provide step by step instructions on how to complete a task, therefore furthering the

user’s coding literacy. Students are being taught how to code at an early age because it allows the

coder to see how pieces fit together logically. This helps the coder to think in a more advanced
 7
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

manner. Coding for computer programming is “a new type of literacy” (Hutchison, Nadolny,

2015). It helps to organize the thought process and express your ideas. Teachers are using a

coding program called Scratch to teach students how to “elaborately design and create a game to

explore the disciplinary skills of digital game design” (Hutchison, Nadolny, 2015). This employs

a wide range of skills that helps students to learn about technology, coding, and to further their

literacy skills.

Incorporating coding into instruction allows students to learn new concepts, and is also “a

system for measuring their progress” (Valenzuela, 2018). The implementation of coding teaches

engineering through the requirement of applying the code. Teachers are using the “LittleBits

code kit” to teach their students these concepts. The code kit “familiarizes students with the

technology and coding learning environment” (Valenzuela, 2018). The kit begins with easy to

follow tutorials, which then allow the user to create something of their own design. Students then

test “how the code manipulates their design” (Valenzuela, 2018). This allows teachers to ensure

the intended learning is being achieved. Students then revise their designs and test them again

until they get optimal results. This process lets students develop their ingenuity skills and teaches

them that very few things are perfect on the first try. By using the code kit, teachers are able to

make a fun and safe learning environment for the students while implementing new technology

into their student’s lives.

Method
The research question I will be answering is as follows: How can I create an app that will

organize all important information belonging to a person with dementia into one location that is

easy to manage while incorporating fun, memory-based games? I hypothesize that if I learn to
 8
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

use OutSystems software to develop an app, then I will be able to help many people affected by

dementia nationwide to better organize their personal and medical information and work towards

improving their memory skills. The engineering goals I have are to be able to manufacture a

prototype of this app. The prototype will be on the computer software, not yet ready for mobile

application. By engineering the app, I will be able to organize important information of patients

with dementia, such as emergency contacts, a photo album of family and friends, and memory-

based games. The expected outcome is a functional app in OutSystems software that is able to

have personal information input and to employ the use of memory skill games.

The procedure to developing the app is as follows:

1. Download the OutSystems software and learn how to use the software to create the app of

my desire.

2. Make an outline as to what needs to be included in the app, its function, and how it will be

organized within the app for easy manipulation.

3. Start coding the app using OutSystems software, making sure the app includes emergency

patient information, emergency contacts, medical contacts, a photo album of friends and family

members where personal photos can be uploaded, and memory games to help improve memory

skills of the patient.

4. Make a fake profile using the app to test the usability of the software and to notice any

bugs that need to be worked out.

5. Go back into the programming and make improvements to the software, making sure the

program is easy to use and without any bugs.

 9
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

6. Repeat steps four and five until the app is fully functional and ready to be made mobile.

The risk of creating this app is minimal. There will be no physical testing procedure of

any kind, and the only human interaction the app will have is with me. The low risk factor leads

to minimal safety precautions as well. While making the app, I should be careful not to sit in

front of the computer for too long so as to avoid eye damage.

 10
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

Data Analysis

There are many different elements to consider when analyzing the data collected. Was the app

able to be programmed? In short, yes, but there are many places that should be improved upon or

that did not go entirely as according to plan. The first page that was programmed was the “Main

Flow” (See image 1). This page is where the creator saw how each page connected to the next.

The “Main Flow” programming was relatively simple, as it only required creating a skeleton of

what the application looks like. Next was the “Home Page” (See image 2). This page was also

pretty simple to code, as it only required a title and a brief description of the app. This included

the use of two text boxes. The next page created was the “My Info” page (See image 3). This

page was more complex and was therefore more involved and more difficult to code. The page

includes a blank template for person contact information to be inputted by the user. This required

a different type of text box that was able to be edited by the user. There are also “save” buttons

that allow the user to save what they have input into the app. The programming of the next page,

“Emergency Contacts” was very similar to the previous, as it also required text boxes that could

be edited by the user (See image 4). These boxes were arranged in columns so the user could

input names, relationship, phone numbers, and email addresses of any emergency contacts. The

following page “Medical History” was the most difficult to program (See images 5 and 6). There

are labeled text boxes where the user could input their name, any current medications they were

taking, and any recent procedures they underwent. There is also a drop- down menu to select the

date that the recent procedures had been performed. Finally, there is a place to upload any

important medical files. The next page is a “Daily Schedule” (See image 7). This page was

simple to program, as it only involved title and content text boxes. The content box was filled
 11
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

with a schedule, listing times and specific activities to be completed at those times. Next is the

page titled “Memory Games” (See image 8). This page was more complex to code. There are

links programmed into the app, that when clicked on by a user will take them to external

websites that provide memory-based games. There are currently three links, each which provide

a variety of different memory games. Each link was accompanied by a short description of the

website. The final page is the “Photo Album” (See image 9). This was also one of the more

difficult pages to program. This page includes pictures of family member, side by side with their

name, relationship to the patient and their phone number. Overall, the coding of the app went

pretty well. There were some pages that were more difficult than others, and some elements that

did not work out at all. However, the majority of the coding went smoothly and the application

was able to be completed.

Image 1: “Main Flow” page of the

application.

Image 2: “Home Page” of the application.

 12
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

Image 3: “My Info” page of the

application.

Image 4: “Emergency Contacts”

page of the application.

Image 5: Top half of the “Medical

History” page of the application.

 13
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

Image 6: Bottom half of the “Medical

History” page of the application.

Image 7: “Daily Schedule” page of

the application.

Image 8: “Memory Games” page of

the application.
 14
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

Image 9: “Photo Album” page of the

application.

Discussion

Overall, the application didn’t work as was intended. I encountered some issues with

getting the user’s input to save on any of the pages. The “Main Flow” page had no issues with

what is already there, but moving forward it will need to be adjusted to hold more pages for the

application to be able to work to its full potential. The “Home Page” also did not have any issues.

It is simply a description of the app and therefore the user only needs to be able to read what was

written, which was achieved. The problems begin to emerge with the “My Info” page. This page

is supposed to be an outlet for users to input information about themselves, such as their name,

phone and email. This page also serves as an account login page where the user can edit their

username and password. However, from the user’s point of view, this page does not serve its

purpose. Once information is put into the page, it will not save. This is due to the lack of in depth

coding required to make the pages editable throughout the app. In order to have users save their

information, extra pages that are not seen by the user must be created, having specific coding for

each “save” action. At this point in my knowledge of creating the app, I was unable to create
 15
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

these pages and therefore unable to make the input options functional. The “Emergency

Contacts” page followed this same pattern, as the user is unable to input and save any

information. The last page that falls into this category is the “medical history page”. This page

also incorporates a calendar option and a file upload. Neither of these options are functional

because the information will not save from the user’s point of view. The “Daily Schedule” page

has no current problems and works like it was intended to. The “Memory Games” page had no

complications either. The “Photo Album” page does not currently serve a fully functional

purpose. When I coded this page, I uploaded sample images and information for what I want the

photo album to look like from the user’s point of view. When I logged on to my account as a

user, I realized that the user will only see the photos of people I had previously uploaded directly

into the app. I switched back to coding the app to try to fix this issue. Once again, due to my

limited knowledge of the coding system, I was unable to figure out how to program the app to le

the user upload a photo. I tried to program the “upload file” function, as was previously done in

the “Medical History” page. This would allow the user to upload the file of their choosing, and

they would have to make the choice to upload a photo. However, because I was unable to

provide a working “save” option, I was unable to determine if this solution worked. Because of

this, I switched the programming back to its previous state with example photos already

uploaded.

Moving forward with this project, there are many things I would change and improve.

First off, I would learn more about the coding system to further my abilities in programming this

application. I would then incorporate a “save” feature into all of the previously mentioned areas

where the user’s input would not save. I would then work on making it available for the user to
 16
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

upload photos themselves, and would edit the photo album to incorporate this feature, as well as

changing the layout of the photo album so users could input specific names and contact

information for their loved ones instead of the example I provided. Next, I plan to change the

“Daily Schedule” page. Although it currently serves its purpose, it is a very basic template that

does not suit everybody’s needs. I would change the layout to include increments of time every

half hour, and would make it so the user could input their individualized daily schedule when the

app is downloaded. I will provide suggestions of what should be included in this schedule, such

as “remember to drink water and go to the bathroom”, “call your daughter”, “feed your pets”, or

“take your afternoon medication with lunch”. This would enable the user to customize a specific

schedule that caters to their needs. Next, I would edit the “Memory Games” page. I would start

by adding more options for games. I would also provide a more descriptive explanation for each

link and would organize the links by type of memory game provided. Eventually, I would like to

have my own games programmed directly into the application instead of providing the user with

links to external sources. Finally, I would like to work towards mobilizing the application. The

program is currently a computer software. Going into this project, I knew that the app would start

off as a computer program. Once all the issues I mentioned above are fixed, I would like to work

towards turning this computer app into something that can be download onto a phone or a tablet

for more of an on-the-go type of application.

 17
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES

References
Hutchison, A., Nadolny, L., & Estapa, A. (2016). Using Coding Apps to Support Literacy

Instruction and Develop Coding Literacy. Reading Teacher, 69(5), 493-503.

doi:10.1002/trtr.1440

MALVE, H. O. (2017). Management of Alzheimer's Disease: Role of Existing Therapies,

Traditional Medicines and New Treatment Targets. Indian Journal Of Pharmaceutical

Sciences, 79(1), 2-15.

Scott, J. G., Adams, R. L., & Heyanka, D. J. (2015). Improving the Diagnostic Accuracy of the

RBANS in Mild Cognitive Impairment With Construct-Consistent Measures. Applied

Neuropsychology: Adult, 22(1), 32-41. doi:10.1080/23279095.2013.827574

Valenzuela, J. (2018). introduce coding to students with the littleBits code kit. Children's

Technology & Engineering, 22(3), 30-32.

Winstead, L. (2004). Increasing Academic Motivation and Cognition in Reading, Writing, and

Mathematics: Meaning-Making Strategies. Educational Research Quarterly, 28(2), 30-49.

 18
Running head: A MOBILE APPLICATION TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE
INCORPORATING COGNITIVE BASED GAMES