Geri-Connect App to support delirium management and prevention in older persons admitted to hospital
Geri-Connect is an App to support prevention and non-pharmacological treatment of elderly patients with delirium by nurses and health care providers in acute care. It contains 3 customized components, an assessment tool, care plan and a repository of virtual/online applications/programs to complement care plan interventions.
In the final stages of prototype design NIA funds will be used to
- measure the impact of Geri-Connect on responsive behaviour management within the acute care milieu;
- continue the partnership with the app developer to refine the app design;
- convert the web-based prototype into an iOS/Android app to broaden availability and accessibility to other care settings.
About the Team
Nurse Innovator Award Amount: $20,000
Tina Cheung, Linda Liu and Marijana Zubrinic are advanced practice nurses at University Health network with expertise in geriatric nursing best practices, responsive behaviour management, trauma-informed care and innovating technological solutions to clinical problem. They first hand witnessed how prolonged physical isolation during COVID-19 had negatively impacted cognition and function. As such they teamed up to conceptualize a novel app design that would assess for a patient’s behavioural concerns, language and preferences; develop a logic to recommend culturally relevant and meaningful virtual programming; collate these recommendations into a care plan for nurses to implement. The result of this is the Geri-Connect app.
