Small Steps : Improving Healthcare with Local Innovation

• Integrating technological innovations into healthcare systems has proven to be challenging. It is possible, however, to make small but significant improvements to healthcare through technologies that are not connected to the massive electronic health records systems. This paper describes one such system, Walk the Ward, which was developed for a medical ward in a large regional hospital. Walk the Ward is a quiz-type game played by hospitalized patients to provide entertainment, social interaction and, most importantly, exercise, which promotes healing. Educational information is also provided in the game. Evaluations of the game have shown that patients found it enjoyable and useful, and it facilitated social interactions. Hospital staff also found the game beneficial because it both helped patients and did not increase staff workloads. While the game is currently used in only one location, the basic structure can easily be expanded to multiple settings at a relatively low cost.

Keyword

smart health

healthcare innovation

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)