Grant: Oper Grant:eHealth Innov Partnership Program(eHIPP)-Seniors w Complex Care Needs

Healthcare for seniors can be challenging, especially for those with chronic illnesses like heart failure. Without suitable home care to support them, their health can quickly get worse, resulting in Emergency Room (ER) visits or hospital admissions. By finding a way for doctors and nurses to watch over these seniors at home, we may be able to catch any problems early and help them to avoid getting sick and going to hospitals. This support may even help seniors feel better by being comfortable and safe in their own homes, knowing that doctors and nurses are watching over them. By reducing hospital visits, our health system may save money or offer the hospital beds to other patients. Modern technology allows doctors and nurses to use electronic devices to see how the patient is feeling and measure things like weight, blood pressure, and heart rates, while the patient is at home. In the TEC4Home project, UBC researchers will work with the BC Ministry of Health, TELUS Health, hospital doctors and nurses, and family doctors to use this technology to monitor seniors while they recover at home. This information would be available for patients and their doctors and nurses to view securely online. Hospital and family doctors and nurses will connect with the patients and monitor them electronically to ensure they stay well, especially after ER visits. During this four year project, we will: 1. Make patients feel better and safer about using this technology at home; 2. Help the emergency doctors and the person's family doctor feel good about using this system to watch over the patient; 3. Help the person get better at home without needing to return to the emergency department; 4. Help companies like TELUS Health and Sentrian make their technology better and easier to use; and 5. Save money for the healthcare system.