Exploring technology, compassion, and equity in traumatic brain injury care for underserved populations
The lack of education on traumatic brain injury (TBI) negatively impacts attitudes regarding TBI, resulting in stereotypes and stigmatizing views that compromise compassionate care. To date, much of the digital technology for education on TBI focus on concussion/TBI in the sports settings, which may not be sensitive to the needs of underserved populations who often…
Read MoreExploring the role of technology-enabled connection in the care of young adults living with type 1 diabetes and mental health challenges
Young adults living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) make over 300 decisions each day related to food, activity, and insulin – equal to about one decision every five minutes of the day. As a result of these daily care needs, many young adults living with T1D also live with mental health challenges, including diabetes distress.…
Read MoreDeveloping a framework for equitable ML development and deployment in oncology
The next healthcare era hinges on artificial intelligence (AI) advancements, leveraging vast clinical, imaging and operational data to streamline and augment processes. However, the data that is used to train AI solutions is biased due to the inequities that characterize our society (e.g. the social determinants of health), and health and healthcare in particular. Therefore,…
Read MoreAdvancing compassionate practices in virtual long COVID care
‘Long COVID’ (LC) is an episodic condition that impacts up to 35% of COVID patients. Many people with LC (PWLC) have failed to receive compassionate care from healthcare professionals (HCPs) who did not acknowledge their condition and/or respond to their suffering. A recent systematic review demonstrates that virtual care is the second most common LC…
Read MoreExploring patient-generated narratives in the electronic health record to support whole-person care
To date, patient-generated health data (PGHD) has largely focused on the role of clinical measures in health care provision. The role of patient stories and values as a key source of PGHD is largely an untapped opportunity in the digital technology sphere. This work explores the feasibility and acceptability of including patient narratives in the…
Read MoreUnderstanding the ethical and other implications of leveraging digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) to enable compassionate care in support of healthy ageing
Digital Technologies and Artificial Intelligence (DT/AI) have considerable potential to revolutionize healthcare, but also have the potential to cause harm. Numerous organizations worldwide are developing best practices and guidelines/policies for the safe adoption and deployment of these powerful technologies; yet older adults are often not considered. Samir’s study endeavors to enhance the delivery of compassionate…
Read MoreDesigning compassionate AI for use in dementia care
Many technologies are being developed for long-term care settings to improve safety and quality of care, such as behavioural health monitoring technologies to support the assessment of responsive behaviours in dementia. We need to make sure that these technologies are designed in a way that promotes compassionate care of people with dementia and avoids stigma.…
Read MoreCo-designing a digital health intervention to support compassionate survivorship care after cardiac arrest
Each year, 60,000 Canadians suffer sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Survival is challenging and the recovery journey can be fraught with anxiety, confusion, lack of connection and changes to all aspects of life. To date, the focus has been on clinical survival, with a lack of understanding and compassion towards helping survivors and their families navigate…
Read MoreDeveloping a digital communication tool to support compassionate care in long-term care homes
Lisa aims to develop a digital communication tool (mobile app) to support and optimize compassionate, person-centered care for older adults (residents) in long-term care homes. The digital communication tool builds on previous research that tested a paper copy of the tool to support resident and family caregivers in collaborative care planning. A digital communication tool…
Read MoreBuilding compassion in digital nursing mentorship
Transition from studentship to clinical practice for nurses is a challenging time. At Trillium Health Partners (THP), one in five nurses are new to practice, and there are not enough experienced nurses to offer one-to-one mentorship support. THP nurse leaders have leveraged technology to develop iMentor, a digital mentorship application to connect new and experienced…
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