CardMedic: Flexibly Responding to Communication Needs in the Hospital Setting with Digital Flashcards

There are a range of different communication needs people can experience when they go into hospital. From simply finding it hard to understand someone speaking through Personal Protective Equipment to, physical disabilities such as deafness or vision impairment, to translation or 'easy read' communication needs.

Whilst valuable services to support clinicians and patients to communicate exist these can be hard to access in urgent or emergency care scenarios or outside hours. CardMedic provides access to a range of resources to support clinicians and patients to discuss potentially complex medical procedures in simple terms that can be instantly translated into different languages and easy read, spoken aloud and displayed in different font sides.

CardMedic is an innovative digital communication technology designed for frontline healthcare staff to communicate with unwell and critically ill COVID-19 patients. The technology and concept underwent a rapid development process in response to Covid-19 when staff wearing Personal Protective Equipment such as masks and visors found it hard to communicate with patients, especially those with communication needs.

The University of Brighton supported the CardMedic team to undertake a rapid evaluation of the digital flashcards and successfully apply for Innovate UK funding.