Video Assist

About the project

The goal of the Video Support project is to develop, test and explore the possibility of dialogue via video between municipal health care staff and citizens with mental health issues. Occasionally, people experience acute problems as a result of anxiety, schizophrenia, etc. in connection with their social rehabilitation program. In such instances, a video link to social service staff can be an important support for these people. This may result in that they choose to remain home and avoid hospitalization in the psychiatric ward.

The goal of the research project is to help clients enhance their quality of life, independence and confidence in their own abilities following discharge from the psychiatric ward. At the same time, the project also investigates how technology affects the staff’s work tasks. The project is part of a Ph.D. research project conducted under the Laboratory for Welfare Technology on telehealth and telerehabilitation, SMI, AAU.

User-driven innovation

Through workshops with citizens, employees, managers and the project team, we have developed a concept for the video dialog.

Target group

Citizens who have had a brain-damaged, mental health problems and/or disabled and who are subject to the Law no. 85 on the Provision of Social Services. The target group are people living in their own homes and receiving a minimum of two to several home visits per week, for example, by a home visiting counselor. The clients often suffer from anxiety, insecurity, and are served by the tele-social-psychiatric rehabilitation team Esbjerg Municipality. A total of 50 citizens are using the Video Assist solution.

Video

See video from TV Syd about the project (in Danish).

Funding

The Video Assist project is funded by the Esbjerg Municipality, Department of Citizen and Labour Market.

Contact

Development Consultant & Ph.D. student Claus Østergaard, coe@hst.aau.dk, phone +45 2972 6260