Multimedia Distraction in the Emergency Department

Exploring multimedia as a distraction tool for older patients at risk of developing behavioural disturbance.

• Investigators

  • • Professor Daphne Flynn
    • Dr Rowan Page
    • India Macpherson
    • Bronte Kerley
    Monash Art, Design and Architecture
  • • Dr Gabriel Blecher, Emergency Physician
    Cabrini Health
  • • Associate Professor Lisa Kuhn
    Monash Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences

• Partner organisation

  • Cabrini Health

• Funded by

  • Cabrini Health

• Undertaken within

  • Design Health Collab

Older patients constitute a significant number of Emergency Department admissions in Australia. Many of these patients can exhibit confusion and agitation when confronted with the demanding environment of the emergency department. This can range from mild to severe reactions, especially for patients with dementia or delirium, and can increase the length of stay or efficacy of their treatment.

Clinical partners identified multimedia strategies, such as VR, as a potential alternative to sedative or psychotropic medications but were faced with challenges implementing it in the clinical environment. Worries ranged from strapping it to the patient, to the possible damage to the device from throwing or dropping it. Monash University’s Design Health Collab worked together with patient volunteers and clinical staff to explore alternative ways of delivering immersive multimedia, purposely designed for these environments.