ABSTRACT
Background: The effects of isolation and loneliness have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. While assistive technology offers potential benefits for long-term care residents, there is limited evidence on technology adoption in complex care environments in LTC. The voices of older persons, family members and staff perspectives are not adequately included in implementation science literature. The poster report the adoption of Tochie, a smart audio device that allows family members to remotely record and schedule messages, such as daily reminders or comforting audio recordings, to send to their loved ones in LTC care homes during the time of COVID lockdown. Method(s): We applied qualitative descriptive design with interview and focus group methods. A total of 25 people in LTC participated in the study, including residents, family members, and care staff from two long-term care homes in British Columbia, Canada. Each resident was given a device to use with their family member for a four-week intervention period. The research team checked in with family members and staff weekly via telephone and email to provide support and gather feedback. Pre- and post-intervention focus groups and interviews were held via Zoom and phone correspondence to learn about participants' experiences using Tochie. Thematic analysis was performed to identify themes. Result(s): Four common themes were identified to describe the experience of using Tochie in LTC: (a) fostering emotional connection (b) connecting in creative and personalized ways (c) considering contextual considerations in LTC (d) lessons learned for future developments. Conclusion(s): The COVID-19 pandemic has provided us an opportunity to redefine and reconstruct what it means to "keep in touch" with loved ones in care settings. In our study, residents, families and staff highlighted the ways in which Tochie has enabled and expanded possibilities for family connection. Our findings offer pragmatic insights into challenges and possibilities for future product development and implementation. Copyright © 2022 the Alzheimer's Association.
ABSTRACT
Successful treatment of viral infections has proven to be huge challenge for modern medicine with the most effective approach being prior vaccination. The problem with vaccination is the time it takes to develop an effective vaccine, validate its safety and manufacture it in large quantities. Facing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), we simply do not have the time to develop the vaccine before thousands of people die. Therefore, any treatment which can decrease the severe symptoms due to lung damage may help attenuate mortality rates. Inactivation of ACE2 during virus fusion into the host cell may be one of the underlying reasons for intense immunological reaction seen in the lung tissue. This overreaction is probably mediated through the bradykinin receptor activation. Noscapine, a medication used for the treatment of cough, has been shown to inhibit bradykinin enhanced cough response in man. As it is already marketed in a number of countries as a cough medicine, even for children, a suitable formulation with all the required licenses is available that can be rapidly utilized in preliminary trials.