‘Pain is a feeling of the past’ at Anthem due to an identification system for treatment.
The Bowral nursing home has engaged facial-recognition technology to assist non-verbal residents including ones with dementia or strokes.
Anthem’s pilot of the PainChek application is the first clinical application for technology in the Southern Highlands.
The app is the first-of-its-kind automated facial recognition app that detects facial micro-expressions indicative of pain.
Frowns and raised lips are just some of the symptoms PainChek can recognise.
It operates on a mobile phone, using the camera to take a short video of the face to assess pain indicators with facial recognition and artificial intelligence software.
Pain levels are scored in real time and automatically update medical records in the cloud.
The caregiver will use the app to record their observations of other pain-related behaviors that complete the assessment.
Finally, PainChek calculates an overall pain score which allows the caregiver to monitor the effect of medication and treatment over time.
Anthem care systems manager Jill Allsopp said since the introduction of PainChek, residents have suffered less pain and enjoy more of each day.
“It’s so beneficial and efficient both time and financial wise,” Ms Allsopp said.
“It had changed the treatment plans of some residents.”
Ms Allsopp said anyone could apply the technology.
“You don’t need a degree to use the app,” she said.
“If you can push a button, you can use it.”
If this one month trial is successful, PainChek will be implemented in nursing homes across the county and has the potential to be used for non-verbal children under the age of three.
