Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (CWH) NHS Foundation Trust and their official charity CW+ have launched a new version of their app Hand Therapy: The Exercise Prescription App.
It forms part of the CW Innovation programme which is being led by the trust and CW+ with the aim of identifying and evaluating new solutions to improve the patient experience, care and how hospitals are run.
The app helps patients with information and guidance on treatment alongside a therapist-tailored programme to recover from hand and wrist injuries. The improved version of the app has new content, functionality and updated features.
50 new instructional videos and audio tutorials will be made available to build a library of 130 instructional videos and audio tutorials, supporting patients to follow them at home. The app is also being used in clinical settings with updates developed from patient and clinician feedback, led by the trust’s Senior Occupational Therapist, Hayley Fay.
The updates aim to allow the hand therapy exercises to re-order in accordance with the prescription, with additional ‘exercise repetitions’ and ‘completed’ buttons for each exercise. It also has an increased search functionality allowing users to find exercises quicker.
The app now provides the option to record and upload videos from the patient, to help with customised programmes, and a patient-rated outcome measure called ‘My Functional Goals’ to support patients in reviewing progress and setting their own targets. This data is being anonymously collected to evaluate the app.
Hayley Fay commented: “It has been a pleasure working with colleagues and patients and their feedback has helped to shape the new version. In particular, the new functionality to enable the team to collect outcome data related to patient goals, will really help motivate patients on their journey to recovery. As a team we are all really proud of how the updated app looks and believe it will enhance patient care.”
Bruno Botelho, Deputy CCO and Director of Digital Operations at CWH, added: “The trust has always supported innovation and digital solutions to improve the delivery of care in the population we serve, and the Hand Therapy is a great example of how the patient is becoming more informed and empowered – in near real-time – to manage their own care.”
