Health care has its share of challenges, but thereB次元官网网址檚 no shortage of technological innovation in the industry, say speakers at the State of the Island Economic Summit this past week.
Mental health, seniorsB次元官网网址� care and brain health were topics of a talk Wednesday, Oct. 26, at NanaimoB次元官网网址檚 Vancouver Island Conference Centre, where entrepreneurs discussed technological solutions for a range of issues.
Sean Burke, CEO and founder of CheckingIn, offering mental wellness programs and a smartphone application, said his company is working on a case study with Squamish First Nation. Considering the atrocities that happened in Canadian residential schools, an approach respecting language, culture and teachings of Indigenous elders and ancestors is needed, he said.
B次元官网网址淚t takes us from this idea that a Western approach to mental health can be B次元官网网址業ndigenizedB次元官网网址� and instead, it puts the actual culture and the language at the forefront, where we can then add on Western approaches to supporting mental health and well-beingB次元官网网址次元官网网址� said Burke. B次元官网网址淲ith different nations, what weB次元官网网址檙e doing is weB次元官网网址檙e building familiar faces, familiar people and again, integrating that culture and language into the tool.B次元官网网址�
There are supports for many different communities, but access can be an issue, he said.
B次元官网网址淲hat we tried to do is simplify and bring it into a one-stop shop to help people get those resources and supports they needB次元官网网址次元官网网址� said Burke. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e had a lot of success. Basically the takeaway is that culture and language needs to be in the forefront and really bringing that out in the support. If we continue to take a traditional and Western approach to mental health, weB次元官网网址檙e not going to see the results weB次元官网网址檙e hoping to see.B次元官网网址�
When asked whether Nanaimo-area Indigenous nations had been approached, Burke said he had set up meetings with Sheila Malcolmson, B.C. minister of mental health and addictions and meetings with Island Health B次元官网网址渨ould be [the] next logical step.B次元官网网址�
Rob Parker started ElderPrime, an app that helps patients record health information, after his father was diagnosed with a degenerative brain disorder in 2006.
His mother was primary caregiver, he said, and would track his fatherB次元官网网址檚 health condition on paper. When his father attended medical appointments, he would forget what he had talked to the doctor about and misinterpret information.
B次元官网网址淎t ElderPrime we really think that the health-care appointment is a good problem to solve B次元官网网址� first we have some simple features for tracking eldersB次元官网网址� daily symptoms: health symptoms, meds, vital statistics, questions for the doctor,B次元官网网址� said Parker. B次元官网网址淭hen we take all of that and we package it up into the app and make it available for the appointments.B次元官网网址�
The app also records and transcribes the entire appointment.
B次元官网网址淥nce weB次元官网网址檝e collected all of those data, weB次元官网网址檙e able to analyze health trends, put them through our algorithms and then reflect back to people some recommendations of things they might want to talk to their doctor about or things they might want to investigate further,B次元官网网址� said Parker.
Nolan Beise is founder of Circl, which offers brain-computer interface technology with a headset that interacts with an app and tracks cognitive performance.
B次元官网网址淲hat I want to do is help people who need the help and [for whom] B次元官网网址榖rain fogB次元官网网址� is an issue. [It] is a general term that means the brain is not working as good as it used to and itB次元官网网址檚 impacting your ability to work effectively,B次元官网网址� he said.
The app involves participants playing a five-minute game, according to Beise.
B次元官网网址淚t measures your visual processing of odd events,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淎nd how our paleolithic brains are built is to understand information that wasnB次元官网网址檛 there before and assesses that information B次元官网网址� So weB次元官网网址檙e measuring the delta between your information processing to new stimuli.B次元官网网址�
The economic summit was held Oct. 26-27.
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