WhatMatters
UBC IDEA Lab · Person-Centred Dementia Care
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WhatMatters is a digital app that brings personalized comfort — favourite music, family photos, cherished memories — to people living with dementia during hospital stays.
Up to 40% of people in acute care wards live with dementia. In unfamiliar environments, they may experience disorientation, agitation, and responsive behaviours. WhatMatters is a non-pharmacological, person-centred tool that helps care teams see the whole person — not just the patient.
We could use it as a tool, you know, instead of relying on, like, chemical PRNs, we could use that app.
Patients, family partners, and hospital staff shaped every screen, from login to media gallery, ensuring it fits real workflows.
Each profile carries what calms a person, what brings them joy, and the music, photos, and videos that anchor their identity.
Easy enough to pick up between rounds. Powerful enough to inform shift handovers, family conversations, and care planning.
2021–2022, with patients, families & staff
2023 — published in Geriatric Psychiatry
July 2025 — non-randomized control trial at VGH
2026+ — additional acute care wards
Pre- and post-intervention focus groups with multidisciplinary staff at VGH surfaced a clear pattern. The app works best when implementation meets clinicians where they are.
Familiar music, family voices, and meaningful photos reduced responsive behaviours and may decrease reliance on antipsychotic medication.
Printed guides, staff huddles, and unit-specific equipment (multiple iPads, charging stations) helped teams adopt the tool into daily flow.
Staff intuitively saw the value of the music module and the way information could travel with the patient between facilities.
"Easy to use" was the most common phrase from clinicians — even those uncertain about technology in general.
And that's really helpful for us, because we can learn about the patient before they even arrive. Usually, we don't get that information until they're already here, so it makes a big difference.
The WhatMatters team at the UBC IDEA Lab brings together nursing, design, engineering, and lived experience under principal investigator Dr. Lillian Hung.
WhatMatters
