Research & Innovation 
July 26, 2022
Lead and support innovation that improves our workplaces and benefits seniors in our communities.
Accomplishments
- Launched the Insights Lab
- Joined CanHealth consortium to help bring innovative new technology to seniors’ care
- Innovation partnerships with Tenera and MindfulGarden
- Developed technology training program designed for seniors to encourage connecting with family and friends
- Several research and innovation projects including studying isolation, impact of COVID-19 on healthcare staff and caregivers, reducing falls
Insights Lab
The Shannex Insights Lab is an internal research and analysis hub dedicated to analyzing resident data from various sources. Established last year with the goal of generating insights that help identify opportunities to improve resident care and outcomes, the lab uses data from Momentum, the electronic health records, assessment data and real-time location data available from Tenera, a new alternative call bell technology we are piloting in three provincially licensed nursing homes: Cedarstone Enhanced Care in Truro, Harbourstone Enhanced Care in Sydney and Parkstone Enhanced Care in Halifax. We see great potential for quality improvements through the insights gathered from the work of the lab.
The “Life Journal” Project
Research shows that intergenerational activities can help prevent a decline in seniors’ physical and cognitive well-being. The “Life Journal” project was born to create links between students at the Centre de formation médicale du Nouveau-Brunswick and residents of the Faubourg du Mascaret. During the project, students from the Centre de formation médicale du Nouveau-Brunswick established a trusting relationship with residents to create a life journal for them. Through their time with the residents, the students came to develop healthy attitudes towards seniors and hear of their long and dynamic lives. After a year’s worth of meetings, phone calls and information exchanges, residents were presented with a personalized journal from a student. We offer special thanks to the students of the Centre de formation médicale du Nouveau-Brunswick for their commitment to this important project.
Students Identify LTC Solutions
In March 2022, through a partnership with Pulse, Dalhousie’s Health Innovation Sandbox, we hosted a “Hackathon” with students from several local post-secondary institutions working on real-world-long-term care challenges over two days. Guided by Shannex mentors, the teams explored common issues such as falls, social isolation, disease progression, care transitions and responsive behaviours and presented final pitches to a panel of long-term care judges at the end of the weekend. The winning idea was the development of a system to help identify residents who may be at a greater risk of falling, a Fall Prevention Scoring System. We are considering implementing this approach as a pilot in one of our communities.
