The test of Geras Solutions' digital platform for dementia investigations in Torsby municipality can show the way for future care. The large time gains demonstrated by the digital working method can be decisive for a rapidly growing group of patients to receive the best possible care.
Geras Solutions digital platform enables both anamnesis, family survey and a cognitive test. All parts of the dementia investigation are collected via a reading tablet and then corrected with the support of artificial intelligence, which presents the information in an easily accessible way.
The test in a real environment is a collaboration between Geras Solutions, Region Värmland, Torsby municipality and DigitalWell Arena. In total, 65 patients who belong to Torsby and Likenäs care centers have been involved during the six-month test period. Eleven percent of the patients were able to complete the cognitive test completely on their own and a further 43 percent with the support of staff in the dementia teams. For the group that failed to take the test on a reading tablet, among other things, more severe cognitive impairment, vision problems and unfamiliarity with technology were some of the underlying reasons.
Big time savings in healthcare
Despite the fact that a relatively small percentage was able to use the digital tool completely independently, significant time savings could already be derived at this stage. In total, this is an average time saving of three hours per patient, excluding travel times. In addition, it is estimated that the medical time per patient (which was not analyzed in the test) can be halved with the digitally compiled data.
In the future, the time gains are assumed to be even greater, as increased familiarity with technology enables more patients to do the test independently and independently of the care's opening hours.
Carina Stenmark, assistant project manager and cognitive nurse, together with Grels Naeslund, who is one of the patients who had to take the cognitive test in digital tapping.
According to Rickard Forsman, CEO of Geras Solutions, the beneficial effects are greater than what has been expected so far and are important for the continued spread of the digital working method. In February, an updated version of the platform will also be launched with additional adaptations to provide improved accessibility.
- The pilot in Värmland is incredibly valuable in showing the way for what is possible with digital technology. It's also fun that we were able to demonstrate that there are such great values, both for care providers but above all for the individual patient and their relatives. I think that everyone who works in this area of care sees that the needs are great and with Värmland as a good example, more people will want to modernize the working methods, says Rickard Forsman.
Great future need
Society's need to increase the capacity for dementia investigations is great. Today, approximately 150,000 people have a diagnosis of dementia, and by 2050, the number affected by cognitive disease is expected to increase by 200 percent. Currently, many are diagnosed at a late stage, and around a third of those affected never receive a diagnosis at all.
A strong incentive for the number of investigations to increase is also the hope for more effective drugs. As recently as June, the FDA, the US Food and Drug Administration, approved the first drug that is considered to affect the actual disease process of Alzheimer's.
"This makes an early diagnosis necessary, actually for the same reason that early cancer diagnosis is absolutely decisive for the disease's development and mortality," writes Sven Gustafsson, district doctor in Torsby and project leader in the final report.
In Torsby, the experience of the digital investigation method has also been positive among both staff and patients. Not least, the possibility of doing the test in a home environment, instead of at the memory clinic, has been experienced as both stress-relieving and privacy-promoting among the patients. The staff highlights the benefits of the result being clear and easy to interpret, but also sees a need for increased knowledge and adaptations to further increase user-friendliness.
Nursing staff important for development
Rickard Forsman shares that view and at the same time underlines the importance of the staff for the insights created for continued development:
- The teams in Torsby and Likenäs are both knowledgeable and interested in developing care. I also feel that they have a lot of trust in the organization, which means that pilots like this can get support and resources to grow.
Given place in national investment
Region Värmland has made a direct procurement of Geras Solutions' platform, so that the service can continue to be used by the dementia teams in Torsby and Likenäs. In the long term, the ambition is also to make the platform available to all of the region's healthcare centres.
Thanks to the test in a real environment in Torsby, DigitalWell Arena and Region Värmland have also become part of PRIVATE – a five-year national investment in precision diagnosis and treatment of dementia diseases. DigitalWell Arena's role will be to find more test environments for digital screening of dementia, which will provide knowledge and experience for a wider implementation in primary care.
Here you can take part in a film that covers experiences from the test in Torsby municipality and what it is like to live with a dementia diagnosis.
