Dr. Mia speaks with Kirstin Thomas, co-founder and president of Kindred Mind, about how her mother's Alzheimer's and vascular dementia shaped her caregiving journey and inspired a technology companion for people living with dementia. They explain how familiar-voice and face-to-face features aim to ease repetitive-call anxiety and support connection, while discussing privacy safeguards, dementia-care principles, and the limits caregivers must learn to accept.
Kirstin Thomas is the Co-Founder and President of KindredMind. She built it from lived experience: her mother lives with Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia in a memory care facility in Ontario, Canada, and would call again and again, reaching for the comfort and reassurance of a familiar voice Kirstin couldn’t always answer. Unable to find a tool that met that need, she built one, a voice companion that answers a loved one’s calls in the family caregiver’s own voice, grounded in simulated presence therapy and dementia-friendly communication guidelines.
Kirstin is an experienced executive and operator. She co-founded Snaile Inc., Canada’s leading smart parcel locker company, and as its COO and later President scaled it into a national leader serving major developers, REITs, and residential and hospitality properties, growing to more than 800 customer sites before its acquisition in 2024, including leading a rapid pivot to onshore manufacturing during the pandemic and winning national contracts against much larger U.S. rivals. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Toronto and studied design at OCAD University.
At KindredMind, she leads company strategy, operations, and the brand’s voice, building it as a growing suite of tools supporting people from mild cognitive impairment through the stages of dementia, alongside the families who care for them. Whether answering repetitive calls, offering companionship and conversation to combat loneliness, or carrying reminders through the day, the aim remains the one that started it all: making sure the person living with dementia feels heard and reassured, so caregivers can keep showing up for the people they love, without carrying the weight of every missed call.
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@kindredmindcare
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Kirsten Thomas's caregiving story and the origins of Kindred Mind
02:56 Early signs: language changes, repetition, and executive function
05:07 A sudden loss of independence and the calls that inspired the product
08:34 How Kindred Mind Voice offers a familiar, patient response
11:31 AI voice concerns, privacy, and the safeguards Thomas describes
16:01 How call coverage works and options for transparency
19:45 Validation, reassurance, and redirecting repeated questions
22:47 Two voice modes: companionship and reassurance
24:53 Kindred Mind Presence: tablet-based friendly or familiar faces
28:01 Caregiver guilt, acceptance, and what remains within your control
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Video on Ask Dr. Mia YouTube channel
Transcripts on www.miayangmd.com. Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain minor inaccuracies.
Email: ask@miayangmd.com
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