PalliCare
Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life of patients with life-threatening diseases and their families through the prevention and treatment of pain and physical as well as psychosocial problems [1]. There is a increasing number of patients with palliative care needs due to both aging society as well as intensified causal therapy options. However, the available resources for specialized palliative care services is decreasing due to shortage of qualified personnel, aging population, and rising health care costs. Most patients who receive palliative treatment prefer to live and die at home and in ambulatory care rather than staying in a hospital or a hospice. However, staying at home is often associated with risks, especially if patients live alone or in rural areas without somebody to help them during their daily life or in case of emergency.
To overcome these problems, we want to develop a system that helps to monitor the health state of palliative care patients. The patient uses a mobile app to collect biometric and psychometric parameters. Collecting all these data should be as easy and effortless as possible for the patients. The entered data is analyzed and the app displays information about the patient’s health state and notifies the patient if any parameters are in untypical ranges. Furthermore, doctors are able to see and enter data about their patients’ health state. Additionally, our system incorporates functionalities to send alerts to the patient’s next of kin or even to the hospital in case of emergencies.
Our system aims to increase the safety and also the feeling of safety of palliative care patients at home.
[1] https://www.who.int/cancer/palliative/definition/en/
Team: Ulla Sternemann, Patrick Höfner, Daniel Wagner, Klaus Schmidt, Insa Suchantke
Partner: University Hospital – Palliativstation
Scrum Master: Malte Ollenschläger, Imrana Yari Abdullah