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ICU Communication App

Name: ICU Communication App
Availability: InStock
Rating: 1 (1 reviews)

Empower intubated patients to express their needs and find reassurance with a simple, intuitive iPad tool designed to restore dignity and connection during critical recovery.

Key Figures

Downloads

1K+

User Rating

1.0/5

Total Ratings

Publisher

Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Give Your Loved Ones a Voice When They Need It Most

Designed by ICU survivors and clinicians, this app restores dignity and clarity for intubated patients, bridging the gap between clinical care and human connection.

Instant Reassurance & Clarity

Reduce ICU delirium and anxiety with a dedicated home screen that helps patients understand where they are and why they are being treated.

Fully Personalized Content

Empower family caregivers to add custom words, names, and phrases, ensuring the patient can communicate what matters most to them personally.

The following screenshots and description are sourced directly from the app's official store listing and are the property of the app developer.

App Store

Screenshots

ICU Communication App - ICU Communication App interface showing patient reassurance message and menu options — ICU Communication App interface showing patient reassurance message and menu options

ICU Communication App - iPad interface showing the Staff and Family Mode for personalizing the ICU Communication App settings — iPad interface showing the Staff and Family Mode for personalizing the ICU Communication App settings

ICU Communication App - iPad screen displaying a reassurance message for hospital patients in the ICU Communication App — iPad screen displaying a reassurance message for hospital patients in the ICU Communication App

ICU Communication App - Interface showing categorized buttons for patients to select words and communicate needs — Interface showing categorized buttons for patients to select words and communicate needs

ICU Communication App - A simple keyboard interface on an iPad for the ICU Communication App allowing patients to type messages. — A simple keyboard interface on an iPad for the ICU Communication App allowing patients to type messages.

Description

This app is designed for patients who are intubated (have a breathing tube in their throat) - leaving them fully aware but temporarily unable to speak. These patients will be in hospital and in Intensive Care (ICU), High Dependency Units (HDU) and other wards. This simple communication app was designed with individuals who have lived through this experience on ICU. - The app is designed around a number of core principles that support a patient, who will potentially be distressed and possibly confused, in communicating: - The main app screen provides reassurance: patients described waking up in a state of confusion not knowing where they were and what would happen to them. - Communication can build from single words: past patients and their relatives described the person who can talk doing the majority of the work when communicating. - The app comes with some pre-defined words: these are based on the topics that patients and relatives of those who had been on ICU said were important - The words in the app can be personalised: relatives can add words specific to the individual to allow simple and quick communication of topics important to the patient. - Communication can happen over a long time: As well as communicating in the moment the app can be left with the patient and they can construct a message over a long period of time. Patients described having moments of lucidity and moments of hallucination, fatigue and confusion. - The app has multiple way of supporting novel communication: a simple keyboard allows the patient to type a message, and the app also includes 2 tools to allow hospital staff or relatives to support the patient in communicating. This app is designed to be part of a tool kit which includes staff training in partner based communication techniques as well as paper based Augmentative Communication (AAC) resources. This app was designed during research by Barnsley Hospital's Assistive Technology Team and Imperial College's Helix Centre. The app has now been released for free in order to support the response to Covid 19 and the increased incidence of patients who are being ventilated. This app is designed specifically for use in hospital environments. For those with longer term communication needs there are a range of other Augmentative and Alternative (AAC) strategies, software and apps that may be able to support.