For decades the social care sector has been rich in data. However, organising and using it effectively was a challenge, as it remained locked away in filing cabinets and storage cupboards.
As the sector becomes increasingly digitised, the focus is shifting to how we can unlock the benefits of data that is now readily accessible and dynamic.
Social care providers are in a unique position to utilise data to drive improvements in care and outcomes for residents. PainChek has been supporting this journey by developing its suite of reporting within PainChek Analytics, as well as introducing monthly management reports to aid clients in drawing meaningful observations and learnings from their pain assessment data.
For World Alzheimer’s Month, PainChek joined forces with Care Home Management magazine to record a podcast discussing the use of AI tech in assessing pain in residents with dementia.
Peter Shergill of PainChek was joined by Hannah Miller, Dementia Lead at Orchard Care Homes, Katie Thorn, Project Lead at Digital Social Care and Liz Jones, Policy Director at the National Care Forum.
Collectively, we discussed the power that care providers can unlock through effective monitoring of data, enhancing their ability to guide clinical decision-making and ultimately improving the quality of care an individual receives, regardless of their diagnosis.
During the session, panellists also explored the importance of timely follow-ups in identifying the impact of interventions, as well as the timings of assessing pain. This included examining a database of over 500,000 assessments from over 550 residential aged care facilities.
Orchard Care Homes’ Hannah Miller talked extensively about the challenges people with dementia, and their carers, face in assessing and managing pain.
“[People living with dementia] can find it hard to verbalise pain and they can have trouble understanding and self-evidencing the pain they are experiencing,” she said.“This can mean they try to communicate it through their behaviour, and carers need to be skilled in identifying possible signs of pain.”
Orchard Care Homes have been rolling out the PainChekⓇ app across their estate over recent months and have already recorded a number of benefits for their residents, including an increase in the frequency of pain assessments, more regular use of pain relief and a decrease in the use of benzodiazepines and antipsychotics.
Listen to the podcast here.
