Aged care provider Cranbrook Care has won a prestigious award for its innovative use of technology to keep residents in contact with family during lockdowns.
The organisation received the Information Technology Across Care (ITAC) Award in the category of Surviving COVID-19, recognising the company's commitment to harnessing the latest technology to improve life for its residents.
The awards are the aged care industry's premier awards celebrating innovation in technology.
Cranbrook Care's entry, Living a Full Life in Lockdown, covered a raft of initiatives implemented over the past two years to bridge the gap between pre-pandemic life and living through COVID-19 feeling safe yet connected.
"We believe wholeheartedly that technology is a vital tool offering endless possibilities to improve the care and lifestyle for our residents," chief executive Lee Carissa said.
"From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we turned to technology to help residents navigate the upheaval the pandemic thrust upon them, and to create new opportunities to keep them stimulated, entertained and meaningfully engaged with their families - even during times when residents were confined to their suites.
"While the COVID-19 pandemic has put enormous stress and pressure on the aged care industry, we are extremely proud of our agile response and the way we have embraced technology to continue to offer our residents the fulfilling experience Cranbrook Care is known for.
"We have seen first-hand the benefits of our investment in technology, and the positive impact of seeing our residents remain connected to their families and engaged through our lifestyle programs during this unprecedented period cannot be quantified."
Key elements of the initiative included:
- A new custom-designed lifestyle TV program streamed to residents' suites to keep them mentally stimulated and entertained during times when they couldn't access group activities. Content including learning languages, daily exercise, concerts, exploring different countries and craft activities, such as origami.
- Tablets were deployed to residents with video-calling technology so their families could book a timeslot online to chat to and see their family members.
- An online booking system was instigated for families able to visit their loved ones in person so Cranbrook Care could minimise risk by staggering the entry of visitors across different days and times.
During 2020, window visits were arranged using speaker technology to help residents talk to their loved ones through the glass whenever in-person visits weren't possible.
Established an offsite call centre that was activated if an outbreak was declared, together with a new communication platform for messages, so families could get in touch and receive timely updates while the on-site team could prioritise caring for residents.
Feedback forms, family/staff meetings and case conferences were moved online using video-calling so the channels for feedback remained open.
Introduced new technology to take the temperature of visitors and an online screening form for visitors, staff and contractors.
"While anyone can create an online form these days, innovating to take our online forms to the next level - incorporating a dynamic database and the ability to personalise forms for different people and locations - has had a huge impact for us," Ms Carissa said.
"Creating a solution which compiles complex information into a simple, accessible format has saved a huge amount of time for our teams, time they have been able to spend providing quality care to our residents."
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