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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, S ep te m be r 20 ,2 01 8 | 4 2 uniq ue sho pping experi encesk-w surpl us 666 Victoria St. N., Kitchener Mon.-Fri. 8-9; Sat. 9-6; Sun. 10-5 447 Huron Street, Stratford Mon-Sat 9-6, Sun 10-5 We reserve the right to limit quantities. Some items may not be exactly as shown. Some items may be limited in quantity. www.kwsurplus.com DR SCHOLL'S PAIN RELIEF INSOLES 2019 planners compare @ $22.98 compare @ $13.98 - $18.98 STORAGE BINS 18 drawer 40 drawer 24 drawer DRAWERS STAY CLOSED WITH SNAP CLOSE DRAWER system $1699 $2499 $1699 many sizes and types to choose from $49979¢ $999$799 ARM & HAMMER LIGHTWEIGHT CLUMP & SEAL CAT LITTER $1499 Equivalent to 13.6kg for usage ladies arch pain men's arch, knee, and sole pain When Rachel Thompson saw her grandmother, an avid reader, having trouble reading due to the effects of her dementia, she brought it upon herself to find a solu- tion. Coupled with her senior research project as a health sciences student at the Uni- versity of Waterloo, Thomp- son founded Marlena Books, a company aimed at providing adaptive books for dementia patients to read., "Our grandmother has lived with dementia for over 12 years now; she was an av- id reader," said Thompson. "As her dementia prog- ressed, she stopped reading, and we kind if attributed that to her dementia diagno- sis, until one day we saw her reading aloud, and it wasn't that she couldn't read, it's just that she wasn't able to read traditional books. Af- ter we looked for people with dementia online and we couldn't find any, I paired that kind of drive to create books for her with my senior research project at the University of Water- loo." Thompson and her sis- ter, Karen, were on hand at Saint Luke's Place in Cam- bridge on Thurs. Sept 9 to explain the scope and prem- ise of the company. Saint Luke's, a residen- tial long-term care home for seniors, hosted the event as part of National Read a Book Day. Thompson says that Marlena Books' main moti- vation at the beginning was to help her grandmother, but it has evolved to all the people that they get to work with and see. "The books are laid out in a way that makes reading easy for individuals with de- mentia: a combination of a research-based layout, which allows individuals to track through eye tracking, to move through the book in a sequential way that makes it easier to read, and there's less text, so it's not as over- whelming," said Thompson. There are prompt- s, thicker pages for dexteri- ty issues, larger fonts and more spaces for those who have visual impairments. Also, Thompson says, ma- ture stories with mature im- aging are used to try and ap- peal to the older audience as, often, patients are given children's books to read, which aren't the most ap- pealing. Thompson started the company, which operates out of the Velocity Garage in the Tannery Building in Kitchener, in late 2015 be- fore making it a full-time role in 2016. The name 'Mar- lena Books' was coined by combining the names of Thompson's grandmothers, Helena and Marilyn. Thompson says feedback for the books has been posi- tive as well. "More recently, we've had someone write to us and say that their mom lived with dementia for five, six years, and they ordered one of the books and this is the first time she has picked up a book and started reading in five, six years," she said. "Even today, we did a small group reading in the dementia wing, and the rec. therapist was commenting, saying it's the quietest they've ever heard the group." Karen, currently a grad- uate student at Waterloo, handles the research side of the company, looking for current applications in the market as well as finding layout solutions for those with dementia. The sisters hail from Flamborough, Ontario, but reside in Wa- terloo after completing their undergraduate de- grees in town. In addition to the Thompson sisters, two iOS developers and a social me- dia manager work with Marlena Books. Thompson, the recipient of the 2018 young alumni of health sciences winner at UW, says Marlena Books has developed an iPad app as well, which will be re- leased in October. They have five fully-written titles and 10 new ones that will be released in the fall. The original short sto- ries are written by authors in the Waterloo Region. MARLENA BOOKS, STARTED BY UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO STUDENTS, AIMS TO IMPROVE READING EXPERIENCE FOR DEMENTIA PATIENTS STARTED IN LATE 2015 AS PART OF RACHEL THOMPSON'S FINAL YEAR PROJECT NAMISH MODI nmodi@waterloo chronicle.ca Rachel Thompson presented about her company, Marlena Books, on Thurs. Sept. 6 at Saint Luke's Place as part of National Read a Book Day. Namish Modi/Metroland NEWS