Collaborative Use of Data to Enhance Aging-in-Place (CDEAP)

Over 5000 seniors and over 4000 adults in New Brunswick live with a disability. Most of them are receiving in-home support by social workers, home care service providers, and caregivers. Proactive communication and a collaborative approach to information sharing between the care team members is an important aspect to ensure better quality of life. Inconsistent information and a lack of communication causes delayed interventions. This can lead to health decline among seniors. The Collaborative Use of Data to Enhance Aging-in-Place project (CDEAP) is a research project in which the home support agencies will report on incidents associated to client care and observable changes in client status. The project goal was to improve communication using technology and provide efficient services to the clients so they can age at home safely as long as possible. Social Development (SD) along with its partner agencies developed a digital tool to share client information securely and efficiently to allow for more proactive care plan adjustments.

• The new tool has improved communication between the SD social workers and home care agencies. It also helped in saving time by reducing unnecessary contact and additional follow-up. However, due to lack of data, total time saved by using the new tool could not be determined.
• The old tool used for communication was inefficient. After the pilot, the developers have gathered adequate information to configure the tool to allow timely/accurate client data to be shared between SD and partners.
• A vital component in the development of the tool has been involving stakeholders. Incorporating user feedback into the tool design has increased the utility of the tool. Out of 22 design ideas, 13 were originally accepted for inclusion in the final version of the design. Other suggestions are most likely to be added later.

• Projects affecting multiple agencies or groups of people should adopt a human-centered, co-design methodology.
• In-depth training and ongoing technical support are required to onboard and support agencies with the new tool.
• Implementation of Application Programming Interface (API) into Agencies Operational systems will decrease administrative burden thus saving more time.
• Expand the project with other service partners in different areas of the province.

To learn more read the complete project findings (PDF 119 KB)