One day in 2015, Rachel Thompson鈥檚 grandmother, who has long lived with dementia, picked up a newspaper and began reading its headlines aloud, shocking her family who thought that her condition had robbed her of a favourite pastime.
鈥淪o then we started thinking, 鈥極h, it鈥檚 not that she can鈥檛 read, she just can no longer read books that she normally would be able to,鈥欌�� Thompson told CTVNews.ca. 鈥淪o I went online to try and order her鈥� books that were made for people with dementia and I couldn鈥檛 find anything.鈥�
Thompson, who was in the final year of a degree in the University of Waterloo鈥檚 health studies program at the time, was suddenly inspired by the novel idea of creating reading material for people like her grandmother.
鈥淪o I changed my senior research project to research the ties between the procedural memory and reading for individuals living with dementia,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he rest is kind of history.鈥�
In the summer of 2015, Thompson pitched the idea to a . Three years later, her company, -- a portmanteau of 鈥淢arilyn鈥� and 鈥淗elena,鈥� her two grandmothers鈥� names -- has published 鈥渄ementia-friendly鈥� illustrated books on everything from romance to sports.
Thompson, who describes herself as an 鈥渁ccidental entrepreneur,鈥� says the books provide people living with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and dementia more 鈥渕eaningful recreation鈥� than the children鈥檚 books they are often given by caregivers.
鈥淭hey focus on mature stories, so stuff that older adults would actually be interested in, but they鈥檙e at a reading level that is adjusted to be easier for them to read, which is normally around a Grade 5 reading level,鈥� she explained. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e also quite short, so they鈥檙e always under 750 words (so) that (they) can be read in one sitting.鈥�
Nearly everything else about the books has been designed with input from experts like optometrists and psychologists to make them as accessible as possible.
鈥淒esign-wise, we only use hard covers and thicker paper weights for those with dexterity issues,鈥� Thompson said.
For those with vision loss, font type, size and spacing have been designed following the . Based on dementia eye-tracking studies, margins are also smaller than in typical books. 鈥淭urn page鈥� prompts, moreover, are found at the bottom of each page.
鈥淎nd you only see text on half of the page that has text because we found that individuals with dementia will often get overwhelmed if they鈥檙e facing a full page of text,鈥� Thompson added. 鈥淭hen there are little things that we鈥檝e put into consideration, like we try and always use characters鈥� names instead of pronouns to help people remember who we鈥檙e referring to.鈥�
The stories are also intentionally meant to evoke earlier memories.
鈥淲e try and centre our stories either when they were either in adolescence or an early adult because that鈥檚 typically where they can have the most memory recall,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淲e have a hockey one that we originally thought was going to be a lot more popular with the guys. We found a lot of women who had sons who grew up playing hockey, that story really resonated with them because it would kind of bring back those memories of them watching their sons鈥� hockey games for many, many years.鈥�
The books are written by authors from Ontario鈥檚 Kitchener-Waterloo region and illustrated by both local artists and dementia patients themselves.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e always very colourful and enticing because if an individual maybe can鈥檛 process the words as well as they once could, then hopefully they can learn a bit more through the story by referencing the images,鈥� Thompson said. And for those who can no longer read, the books give people a way to bond with their loved ones, she says.
Five titles are currently available as hardcover and e-books and 10 more are slated to be released in November. The books can be purchased on and Amazon and can also be found in long-term care facilities and libraries across Ontario. In late October, the company will also be releasing an iOS app that will pair the books with accessibility features for those with later-stage dementia as well as data tracking capabilities for caregivers.
For Thompson, the company is all about improving wellbeing and overcoming 鈥減reconceived notions of what someone with dementia is able to do.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely rewarding,鈥� Thompson said of her ever-expanding social enterprise. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 fun to see how it鈥檚 grown from something that started with just my grandmother to be something that鈥檚 affected a lot more people.鈥�
