BeAble is one of our “technology for social good” projects, in partnership with North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust. It is a continuation of an earlier dementia research project, which identified some key technology that is still needed, especially in cases of comorbidity.
A patient with more than one condition – diabetes AND kidney disease for example – with several life-changing symptoms, requires them to take lots of medication that might have multiple side effects. Such difficult health conditions can be challenging to live with and some patients find it hard to deal with the multiple prescriptions and general self-care. It’s equally as challenging for the clinician, as they lack the time and resources to give the patient the full care they require.
This is why BeAble was born. A post-discharge system that provides the clinician with a library of more specific illnesses and treatments that aren’t just pulled in from NHS Choices. The library also provides the clinician with ideas for therapeutic activities to encourage a more active and happy patient. The patient is then provided with personalised information and a tailored plan about how to manage their conditions post-discharge, to stop relapse-prevention. Bitjam built two parts to the system – a mobile app and web platform from which clinicians will be granted access.
BeAble has a number of core features, including a library of specific information and intervention suggestions for clinicians, written in a way that patients will understand, as well as encouraging patient control as they will have the opportunity to be more active about their condition (behaviour activation).
Patients will have their care plan accessible from their mobile phones which will have the ability to connect with other technologies such as Amazon Alexa and Google Fit, enhancing the user experience by linking with apps that are useful to their ongoing recovery.
At the heart of BeAble is the idea of supporting patients who might be between many services or post discharge with the need to provide relapse-prevention support, to ensure patients are receiving quality and accurate care.
Patients will work more closely with their clinician to decide on appropriate therapeutic activities, which will help to establish and strengthen the relationship between clinician and patient. Any questions that the patient might have can be written in the app and up for discussion during appointment times. This is known as “channel shift” and it’s shown to improve communication. Channel shift could be the beginning of a move away entirely from the traditional appointment times as the idea is to reduce the number of necessary appointments with accuracy.
Issues such as poly-pharmacy can be tackled, decreasing the chance of patient relapse-prevention. Poly-pharmacy is an increasingly common phenomenon that demands attention at a clinical level as it can threaten rather than improve a patient’s wellbeing if it’s not managed effectively.
Technologies such as BeAble can ensure best practice in medication management and enhanced self-care which are fundamental to independent living with multiple long term conditions.