Angela Gentile and Karen Tyrell originally connected on LinkedIn a few years back due to their shared passions — supporting seniors and those affected by dementia.

In the fall of 2014, Angela (in Manitoba) contacted Karen (in BC) on LinkedIn to ask her a few questions about publishing a book on dementia. During this initial telephone call, it was mentioned how Angela’s book includes 25 of the most common behaviours of dementia and ideas on how to support a spouse. Angela also mentioned that she and her son had started the development of a mobile app on iOS 8 for iPhone and iPad to support families dealing with behaviours so that they can access ideas right from their electronic devices.

Karen admitted in this call that she too was working on an App to offer creative solutions for family caregivers to help manage some of the common behaviours. It became apparent to them that this was a situation where joining forces was the path to take.

Karen and Angela shared their app content with each other and soon came to acknowledge that “Two heads proved to be better than one.” Lorenzo Gentile, Angela’s son, had experience in iOS app development and was keen to help in the development of the “Dementia Caregiver Solutions” app.  During the course of the app’s development, the virtual team utilized Skype, email, Dropbox, Google Drive, and the telephone. They worked effectively and diligently corresponding with one another, having virtual meetings, and meeting deadlines despite the two-hour time difference.

By March 2015 the app was ready for release! Everyone contributes their own unique strengths, creativity and resources which make this team project run smoothly.

In July 2015, Angela and Lorenzo met up with Karen in Vancouver. It was a great experience for the team to finally meet in person after all those months of hard work. They continue to work together on improving the app and promoting it.

Expect more great ideas and projects from this amazing trio!