App May Monitor and Improve Pain Management in Dementia

University of Alberta computing scientists are developing an application to help healthcare personnel assess and manage pain in long-term care residents with dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases, reports Medical Dialogues . The app will digitize a pen-and-paper observational checklist that helps healthcare workers when assessing pain in those with dementia. "Our work is to develop an application for nurses to use as well as a back-end repository that stores and manages this data safely," said Alberta's Eleni Stroulia. "This new research demonstrates the promising results from our initial trial." On an individual level, the app will allow healthcare staff to see how pain and pain management techniques are effective or ineffective, informing care decision-making. On a broader scale, widespread use may enhance the quality and efficacy of care that people with dementia receive. "When we have this kind of data, we can build models to understand the impact of different interventions," explained Stroulia. "This is what can change policy and care in the long-term — evidence-based policy that changes the state of how we practice medicine."