Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Caring for someone with dementia can often feel like wandering through a maze of confusion and obstacles — but thanks to Casey Click and Lacy Barton, assistance is now just a “click” away!
The Bluff Dale residents recently created an innovative app designed to simplify caregiving, while also providing essential tools and support that make the journey a little less daunting and a lot more manageable.
Named after Click’s dad, Lew — who had close ties to the Granbury community as an employee at Wiley Funeral Home — the app was designed to alleviate some of the stress caregiving can cause while caring for a loved one with dementia.
“Daddy had dementia for over seven years before he passed away,” Click said. “I also had a grandfather on one side and a grandmother on the other side that suffered with dementia. It’s been a prevalent part of my life since I was little. I took my experiences with each of my loved ones and combined them into something I hope can help caregivers and loved ones on their difficult journey through dementia.”
Click said the idea for the app surfaced when she was at Barnes & Noble one day. As she was browsing the magazine section, thoughts of her parents surfaced — in particular how her father’s dementia had robbed him of the ability to enjoy books due to his dwindling attention span.
"There's a million different magazines in Barnes & Noble, and I thought, ‘Well, I should make daddy a website where you could read little snippets of things,’” Click said. “By the time I got out of there, my brain had pretty much exploded all over the place. I always carry a notebook with me, so I was just writing all kinds of things down. I thought, ‘Oh no, it could be an app,' ... I was taking experiences from my grandparents, my mom and my dad on what they can use, so I thought ‘OK, I'll create an app named Lew.’ It just seemed kind of perfect.”
After the idea took shape, Click embarked on her journey to develop the app, starting with a basic concept outlined in a PowerPoint presentation. Following a recommendation from her cousin, she connected with a developer based in New York City. However, when she received their quote, it exceeded her budget, leading her to seek out donors to help finance the project.
It wasn’t until Click spoke at the Stephenville Optimist Club that her vision finally gained traction — especially from her friend, Barton, who recognized the potential in her concept.
“I heard her speak and heard her passion. She poured her heart into this,” Barton said. “And I was like, ‘Wow, I need to be a part of this somehow — more than just the friend that conforms ideas,’ so, I talked to my husband until we got her development to step off the ground.”
‘CLICK’ING INTO ACTION
With Barton completely on board, the “Lew” app officially launched in June 2023, offering assistance to not only those suffering with dementia, but for their caregivers as well.
Utilizing features like a calendar, checklist, messaging, photo albums and a section titled “What is my loved one seeing?” the app serves as a tool to enhance communication between caregivers and those with dementia.
According to Click, the app is available for free in the App Store, with a subscription fee of $1.99 per month. Caregivers can set it up on their loved one’s phone, maintaining complete control. The app allows caregivers to schedule gentle reminders, set up a daily calendar, and provide essential prompts, such as reminders for their loved ones to brush their teeth, which can alleviate some of the stress on caregivers.
“We’re kind of letting Lew do the reminding, so maybe there's less stress on the caregiver,” she said.
Click also mentioned a feature designed for users who often express a desire to go home or easily forget names. Caregivers can upload pictures and videos of family members, homes, and familiar places — helping their loved ones recognize and remember important people and locations, like doctor’s offices, churches or their own home.
The app also includes valuable resources for caregivers, covering topics like hospice care, scams, self-care and the stages of dementia. A list of the loved one’s medications can also be easily shared as a PDF for routine doctor visits.
"If you're caregiving to anyone, then you do not have time to sit and focus and try to figure out an app,” Barton said. “So, it was very important to us to have something that's simple, that's pleasing to the eye, and not something that’s overwhelming. That was kind of an important thing for us.”
"Everything just kind of clicked well,” Click said. “No pun intended.”
BUILDING SUPPORT
Although the app has been released for a year now, Click said it hasn’t gotten as much traction as they were initially expecting.
The app currently has 67 active users and 267 users who have engaged with the app at least once in the past 30 days — although most of the users aren’t local.
“A lot more people download ‘Lew’ in Germany than do here,” Click said. “I don't know why, but they're seeing something.”
As a way to garner more visibility for their app, the pair launched the initiative, "An Evening with Lew," held on the fourth Thursday of each month at the Granbury Church of Christ and broadcasted on Facebook Live.
"Anytime that we speak, what we want to do is not sell the app; we want to promote awareness,” Click said.
Click also shared her personal connection to the cause, mentioning her battle with breast cancer and her father's struggle with dementia. She highlighted the stark contrast in public support between the two conditions, noting the widespread rallies and awareness campaigns for breast cancer compared to the isolation often faced by those with dementia.
"Before you get breast cancer, it feels a little celebratory, right? There's pink out pep rallies, there's pink out games, and people seem to rally around you,” she said. “Get dementia, and there's not that much rally. One in eight women gets breast cancer and one in three seniors gets dementia, so the numbers are ridiculously higher, and it seems that they just fade into the background. People stop coming around and stop visiting with them.”
Click said her main goal with the “Lew” app is to create an awareness, a sense of community, and to start conversations surrounding dementia care.
“That's kind of what our whole mission basically is — to help people,” she said.
NEXT STEPS AHEAD
After a couple of years of developing their app, Click and Barton have decided to transition to a nonprofit, with the app primarily relying on donations for any changes or enhancements.
As for future plans, Click shared that the next step is to expand the Lew app as a resource for not only dementia care, but for those with autism and young adults who age out of the foster care system.
"I used to work at (STEAM Academy at) Mambrino,” Click said. “And there were quite a few autistic kids who used varying skills of communication. Quite a few of them would use pictures, so that would be something we could incorporate for communication. We could also incorporate those gentle reminders and eventually get it to where, as the child grows up, maybe they could give themselves reminders in a way and kind of move to being more independent.”
Barton added that the third area of focus pertaining to foster care is particularly important to her — especially since she has served more than 20 years at Foster’s Home for Children, a foster care service in Stephenville that provides sanctuary and healing to children of trauma.
"Once you hit 18 in the eyes of the state, you're an adult, but they're not because they have spent the majority of their life just focusing on survival," Barton said. “They are typically five to eight years behind developmentally, just because they've been focusing on survival their entire life. Just because they're 18 does not mean they're ready to spread their wings and fly."
Barton said she envisions adapting the “Lew” app to provide resources tailored for foster care, including guidance on setting up bank accounts, writing resumes and preparing for job interviews.
"There's so many things that because we were raised in a ‘normal’ childhood, you know, our parents told us about those things, or we just learned by observing them,” Barton said. “But if you spent your childhood riding in a 16-passenger van in the backseat or on foot, you don't really get to know those things ... That's just an area that I'm really passionate about too, and with going to nonprofit, we will be able to offer that service for free to any of those children.”
Barton announced that they plan to brand their initiative as "Lew: Community at Your Fingertip," which will serve the autistic, foster care, and dementia communities.
"Our developers told us, ‘If you can dream it, I can build it,’” Barton said.
“We have technology," Click added. “It is here, and it's here to stay, so let's use it to help. Let's use it for something good. I did a lot of research. There's nothing like this out there, so we just want to get going and get this off of the ground. We just want to help people in a meaningful way.”
As the original “Lew” app continues to grow, the pair also plans to upgrade the dementia app to include games, short articles with pictures, a feature called “Find My Loved One,” and a Pinterest-type board for certain interests like quilting or hunting.
Click mentioned they also plan to start using another process called APK (Android Packaging Kit) which will allow users to purchase a tablet preloaded with the “Lew” app — making it accessible even for those still using flip phones. This tablet would feature notifications and the ability for users to FaceTime their caregivers.
“If we can take the stress off of a caregiver just a little bit, then that's huge,” Barton said. “Having to answer the question, ‘What's for dinner?’ ‘What's for dinner?’ — that's stressful. A caregiver may have heard that question 10 times in the last hour, but to your loved one, they've only asked that question one time, so it's natural for us to get snippy. But if ‘Lew’ can relieve a little bit of stress to where you can set up the app to notify the loved one every 10 minutes that we're having spaghetti for supper, (that’s huge). That's kind of our biggest thing is to just let Lew help a little bit."
“And it’s the heart that we have,” Click added. “We're not here to sell you anything. I'm not here to make money off of you. We're here to help.”
Click also shared that her father would be extremely proud of her initiative, as he gave her permission to share his story to help others — exactly what the “Lew” app was intended to do.
"I know Daddy would be so happy to help in any way he could,” she said.
Click announced that T-shirts are also available for purchase during the weekly support group, featuring the hashtag “We are more than dementia” on the front. The back of the shirts displays a quote from Barton’s mother, who said just before her passing, “All you need is love.”
"She said, ‘All You Need Is Love,’ and we have that,” Click added. “That's what we’re really trying to run on is just love.”
The “Lew” app is available for download on the Google Play Store for Androids and the App Store for iPhones.
The website, lewapp.org, is also available for users to watch how-to videos using each of “Lew’s” features. Check out their YouTube channel @Lewapp for more helpful tips.
For more information about the “Lew” app, email Click at cclick@lewapp.org or Barton at lbarton@lewapp.org.
With a heartfelt mission to foster community, raise awareness, and offer support, Click and Barton are dedicated to making a lasting impact in the lives of those affected by dementia, autism, and the challenges faced by youth aging out of foster care — one app (or “Click”) at a time.
