OT staff on ward 39 at Royal Alexandra hospital use RITA to digitally enhance quality of life and wellbeing of patients with acute functional mental illness.
RITA was introduced to support Occupational Therapy (OT) staff and their patients on ward 39. Ward 39 is an acute admissions ward for people who are 65 years and older who present with acute functional mental illness such as psychosis, depression, anxiety, memory impairment and to a lesser degree dementia.
OT staff have been instrumental in using RITA successfully on the ward for both 1:1 activity and group work. It has been an excellent opportunity to use RITA and see its benefits which has included meaningful activity, social engagement, confidence building and building on therapeutic relationship.
Patients have responded exceptionally well to RITA, more so than was anticipated due to the patient group suffering with mental illness of a functional nature. It is acknowledged that some apps were not suitable for the patient group due to their simplicity which are more akin to people with dementia.
Download the case study below to find out how the technology was used and what the impact was.