This 12-month project sees the piloting of an artificial intelligence application to provide baseline assessments of pain experienced by people with limited or no communicative ability. This will be across Gwent in various nursing and residential care homes.
The project aims to create a more accurate understanding of the pain severity that residents are experiencing and tailor appropriate pain management.
The project is funded by the Gwent Regional Partnership Board through the Technology Enabled Care Fund. A variety of local authority and privately owned care homes across Gwent will be in receipt of the PainChek technology.
Life Sciences Hub Wales assist in the collaboration between health boards and access to funding. Project support is provided throughout the pilot and translation of information regarding PainChek into the Welsh language. Life Sciences Hub Wales will support in the adoption of PainChek technology across Welsh health boards.
An independent evaluator will provide data collection gathered from the pilot to assess outcomes.
For more information about the PainChek project, please get in touch by emailing hello@lshubwales.com
- Local authority and privately owned care homes across Gwent
- Life Sciences Hub Wales
- Independent Evaluator (TBC)
- Gwent Regional Partnership Board via the Technology Enabled Care Programme
Funding Acquisition
£36,000 funding received to pilot PainChek
Engagement Events
Engagement invitation events take place with other Gwent care homes
Staff Training
Training for staff to use PainChek rolled out across all involved care homes
Webinar Engagement Event
Webinar event hosted by PainChek to engage further care homes to be involved in the pilot
This app could lead to a reduction in the use of anti-psychotic medication as it can provide more accurate pain measurements for people with dementia.
Furthermore, obtaining a more accurate baseline measurement of pain severity can help to reduce the requirements for one-to-one care, allowing staff time to be reallocated appropriately.
There is also the potential for a reduction in hospital admissions through improved pain management solutions due to more accurate pain data.
PainChek is an artificial intelligence-based technology that uses a modern pain assessment framework. Using a smart phone camera to look at a person’s face, PainChek will use this image using advanced facial recognition technology to assess facial muscle movements indicative of pain when not apparent to the human eye.
PainChek will then calculate an overall pain score which can be used to implement appropriate and individualised pain care plans.
This technology will be rolled out across 6 care homes in Gwent who have applied to take part in the pilot for residents who are non-verbal or have limited communicative abilities, palliative care homes, and residents who have complex needs or learning disabilities. Staff will be trained to use PainChek.