Memory Care: Using TRMNL as a Message Board
Dementia, caused by Alzheimer's Disease, stroke, traumatic brain injuries, and more can leave individuals disoriented day-to-day and moment-to-moment. Sometimes, static reminders are a good solution, such as a whiteboard that is infrequently updated.
However, adding an always-on screen with dynamic information can be a powerful tool in helping reduce stress and increase connection to a loved one suffering from memory loss issues. This was also the hypothesis of a few TRMNL users, including a user who shared this message:
my stepmom has severe memory problems and cannot remember the day / what's going on / anything longer than about 10-15 seconds. i had the idea to give her a TRMNL so she can always see the current date and weather and then have a little text box where i can leave her notes so anytime she glances at it she is reminded.
Here's a visual example of what that screen could look like, using the Custom Text, Weather, and Simple Date plugins:
This is a great use case for one user, creating and maintaining the account/device, and thanks to the long battery life of TRMNL e-ink devices, charging it infrequently when visiting. However, one user wanted the custom messages to be from others in the family, and that's where Marquee comes in.
Custom Messages from Multiple Individuals
When TRMNL user Mark approached the problem, he wanted to include other family members in the custom message process, and set out to create Marquee, a recipe that maintains privacy while providing an interface for multi-user input on the custom messages.
I created this for my own elderly mother. My sister and I wanted an easy way for her to stay connected without her having to navigate modern electronic systems. TRMNL was the perfect solution, giving her personal messages, her upcoming calendar events, and photos of the family.
Marquee now lets us leave her messages, both important, and reassuring.
One of the core features is the ability to share a custom link with anyone, allowing them to contribute to the messages, with nothing to install and no data stored on a private server (everything is stored locally in your browser and sent directly to TRMNL servers).
With a live preview in the Marquee Editor, it allows even your family members who are less technical to see how their messages will be displayed. Of course, you could also repurpose Marquee to add a little whimsy, such as by adding quotes from a favorite TV show they still remember.
Exploring More Options
Because TRMNL's plugin builder is such a powerful tool for consuming information and displaying it, there are a variety of other ways you could build your own. Let's highlight one more from our incredible community.
User "thepeopleseason" created a solution that was similar to Custom Text, but they wanted anyone they chose to be able to provide a message, then display the most recent message automatically. They created this example gist demonstrating how you could create a private plugin, powered by the Google spreadsheet results from a Google Form. Yes, TRMNL can use a google spreadsheet's CSV output as a data source.
What's Your Idea?
Are you using TRMNL in an unexpected way? We'd love to hear about it. Send an email to support@usetrmnl.com with the subject, "How I Use TRMNL" and tell us more!
