Lawson Health Research Institute researched how technology can improve healthcare
Researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute have conducted a pilot study that showed how technology could improve the lives of people suffering from both mental health and physical disorders.
Dr. Cheryl Forchuk, assistant director at Lawson who led the year-long study, said the purpose was to see if certain “smart home monitoring solutions” could improve people’s quality of life, including screen devices, activity trackers, and medication dispensers.
“Some of the people were so overwhelmed and feeling disorganized and they were missing lots of meds which is very important. Some were getting up to four visits a day from the mental health programs just to take their medications,” said Forchuk. “Imagine what would be like in your day to day life to be tied to someone showing up four times a day.”
Lawson worked with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and the London and Middlesex Community Housing to retrofit the