Two senior care facilities in the Edmonton region, Canada, have adopted PainChek’s leading-edge technology that uses AI (artificial intelligence) technology to detect pain in residents who experience cognitive and physical impairments that limit their ability to communicate their symptoms through traditional pain assessment.
The PainChek® pain assessment solution was recently introduced at two Edmonton-based facilities, St. Michael’s Health Group, and Sherwood Care. These are the first pilot projects of their kind in North America and are already making a significant impact on the quality of care the facilities can provide for residents.
James Matthias, Head of Product at PainChek, says:
“We are delighted to launch our pilot projects in the Edmonton region, which is a hub for innovation and has a fantastic artificial intelligence ecosystem. Moving into Canada means PainChek can better facilitate best-practice pain management for residents that need it most. Sherwood Care and St Michael’s Health Group are leading by example in recognizing the importance of accurate pain assessment, and ensuring their residents have access to gold standard care and support.”
Tatsiana Haidukevich, Director of Care, at St Michael’s Health Group, comments:
“As an innovative facility, we are constantly looking for advancements in care to improve residents’ quality of life. We consider ourselves lucky that we came across PainChek® through Edmonton Global, as it represents the next level of pain assessment.
“As Director of Care, I consider best practice very important, and PainChek® has helped us provide best-practice pain assessment technology for our nurses and residents. Nurses now feel more confident in conducting thorough pain assessments, and families are very happy to see improvements in pain assessments and medication management.”
Pain management is one of the top quality indicators Sherwood Care is looking to improve on, according to its CEO Kathy Fortunat:
“This was far too intriguing to pass up on and it matched our priorities,” she says. “It will improve the quality of life for our residents, and it will also improve the quality of work life for our staff. It’s not paper driven, it’s easier to trigger the assessment, and it’s easy to do.”
Danielle Buchanan, Clinical Education and RAI Lead at Sherwood Care, adds:
“I hope that use of PainChek will give us some real insight into some of our residents. They’re not able to tell us how they’re feeling. We see behaviors like agitation or vocalizations, and often, it’s just the norm to treat the behavior rather than looking into what’s the cause behind it. Our staff are really great at being detectives into what’s going on, and this is another great tool to use.”
PainChek, which started out in Australia and is now the most popular clinical digital tool in Australian aged care, has conducted over 3,000,000 digital pain assessments worldwide, with 70,000 aged care beds now contracted internationally across the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and now Canada.
The PainChek® app is available on smartphones and tablets and combines PainChek’s AI pain assessment tool, which intelligently automates the multidimensional pain assessment process, with the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). This hybrid functionality allows accurate, consistent pain assessment at the point of care, and for care to be considered in PainChek’s detailed reporting suite, PainChek® Analytics.
PainChek® has successfully supported accurate pain assessment and management for thousands of adults worldwide living with dementia, disability, or other conditions impacting their ability to self-report pain. It also has applications within hospitals, hospices, home care, and other care environments, where the PainChek technology is enabling more personalized and targeted care for individuals facing pain-related challenges.
PainChek has made a significant impact on the lives of some residents within the Edmonton region through its partnership with St. Michael’s and Sherwood Care. With worldwide recognition for its pain assessment technology, PainChek is at the forefront of leveraging AI to tackle critical healthcare challenges, supporting precise detection, assessment, and management of pain. PainChek’s technology offers a unique and promising solution, with the potential to ease the burden on healthcare workers, reduce improper medication prescriptions, and free up hospital beds.
To learn more about how PainChek® could enable best-practice pain management within your organisation, book a one-on-one session with a member of our team.
