10035105JellyDrops+: Transforming nutrition for elderly people with dementiaClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKThere are 850,000 people with dementia (PWD) in the UK\[1\], with over half experiencing malnutrition and clinically-significant weight-loss\[3\]. Malnutrition has detrimental health consequences including higher risk of associated illness (cancer, COPD, muscle weakness, weak immune system\[9\]), as well as reduced ability to socialise, remain active and independent. Malnourished PWD have 4x higher risk of reaching 'severe dementia' and 3x higher risk of death than non-malnourished PWD\[10\]. The incremental healthcare cost of treating malnourished PWD is also 3x higher\[8\], whereby 70% of hospitalised PWD experience malnutrition\[3\], slowing recovery, and extending hospital stays\[7,8\]. JellyDrops was founded by Lewis Hornby in 2018 due to personal experience of his Grandma (with dementia) needing hospitalisation for dehydration. After living in a carehome for several months, Lewis realised that delivering fluid and nutrients via drinks and traditional delivery methods did not work for many PWD. PWD have a unique set of barriers to drinking liquids (e.g. no longer feeling thirst, inability to use cups, difficulty swallowing liquid), making it difficult/impossible for carers and family to support PWD to consume the fluid and nutrients they need. However, many PWD enjoy sweets. JellyDrops was born. Lewis developed a jelly 'sweet' containing 95% water in a solid form, which was tasty, easy to hold and attractive. The sweets are sugar-free but contain non-laxative sweeteners. One tray of 24 JellyDrops provides 300ml of water and user-testing shows significant wellbeing and health benefits (AppQ3), increasing average daily fluid intake 200-250ml, reducing the frequency of days not meeting fluid targets by 76%. Many PWD choose to eat a tray per day independently, needing little/no encouragement. JellyDrops not only provide essential hydration but also improve social engagement and excitement for PWD and their carers. The existing JellyDrops product has already been tried by 20,000 UK PWD, improving hydration in an engaging way. The multi-award winning (patent-pending) product is rated Excellent on Trustpilot, named the Dementia Innovation of the Year (2020), and supported by the Alzheimer's Society. To tackle the unaddressed issue of malnutrition in PWD and respond to market demand, this project will add nutritional components into JellyDrops, creating JellyDropsPlus(JD+). This project develops a transformational new delivery format for a nutritionally-complete product, overcoming PWD's unique barriers to drinking liquids and difficulty in consuming existing nutritionally-complete drinks. User engagement and people-centred design principles will be critical for this project, utilising established design thinking to ensure JD+ are designed/developed with end-users at the core.