Voice to the Voiceless
A team of passionate frontline caregivers have developed a new platform to help eliminate communication and accessibility barriers that impact patient care.
Communication barriers create unique challenges
Anything from a ventilator to a traumatic injury could prevent a patient from speaking and effectively communicating with their care provider. This can be frustrating for both the patient and caregiver and can even hinder patient care.
By the numbers
- More than 20% of patients in the ICU require an alternative way to communicate due to medical equipment that restricts speech, such as a ventilator or tacheosomy tube.
- Patients with communication barriers are three times more likely to struggle with hospital acquired conditions, such as infection, that can result in longer stays, increased financial burden and reduced patient satisfaction
The tools currently available to address this issue are often too simple or too complicated. Providers use multiple techniques to communicate with these patients—including pen and paper, dry erase boards, gesturing, lip reading, highly specialized apps or expensive assistive devices—but these can be inefficient or difficult for patients to use, depending on their condition.
To meet this need, a team of passionate frontline caregivers at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Temple have developed a new platform—Voice to the Voiceless—that eliminates communication barriers, allows patients to express themselves in a way that fits their accessibility needs and enables caregivers to provide more effective treatment.
How you can help
You can help give patients a voice by supporting broad implementation throughout the hospital and a pilot testing program with a wide variety of patients. Your support can address needs such as:
- Hardware and equipment for broad implementation, including custom-built carts and tablets with eye-gaze technology
- Implementation staffing, project management and development of training materials
For more information, contact
Jordan Castillo, JD, CFRE
Sr. Director of Philanthropy
Call
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