A device for providing assistance to a person comprises a data input for obtaining person related data representing data obtained by monitoring the person, a data processing unit for processing the obtained person related data to determine the person's mental state and/or cognitive level from the obtained person related data, to detect if the person has limited or no ability to perform a desired task and to generate assistance data in case of detection that the person has limited or no ability to perform the desired task and/or if the person's current mental state and/or cognitive level is below a threshold or out of a distribution or value range required to perform the desired task, said assistance data representing data directed to supporting the person in performing the desired task by adapting the number of functions of an appliance accessible and controllable by the person according to the person's current mental state and/or cognitive level, and a data output for providing said assistance data for supporting the person in performing the desired task.