UBC IDEA Lab
Could robots be companions in dementia care?
We work alongside older people, family partners, clinicians, engineers, and health systems to develop ethical, inclusive innovations that improve older adults’ lives and transform care.
About the lab →In the news
IDEA Lab in the news
Our work with older adults, care teams and technology, covered beyond the lab.
University Partners Across 12 Countries
Hover a country to show its University list.
Country
Tools we build
The WhatMatters App
See how a simple digital tool shows hospital teams what matters most to someone with dementia, bringing their routines, history, and comfort triggers right to the bedside.
Teaching & learning
The ENRICH framework
Six practical tips for student placements in long-term care. ENRICH shapes richer learning for students and builds real inter-generational relationships with residents.
OUR RESEARCH TIMELINE
Each year below started as a question worked through together with older adults, family partners, and students, from a pandemic-era telepresence robot, to the WhatMatters app now used at the bedside in dementia care.
Land acknowledgement
IDEA Lab acknowledges that we are situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people.