Pilot study of WoundView telehealth program for chronic wounds in residential aged care
WoundView pilot and feasibility study: Evaluation of a novel virtual care intervention for managing chronic wounds in residential aged care settings
School of Rural Health, The University of Sydney
35 participants
May 7, 2025
Interventional
Conditions
Summary
The WoundView pilot study responds to the urgent need to develop a digital solution bringing together wound analysis within video telehealth and increase access to wound care in Residential Aged Care Homes (RACHs). A set of digital tools that use simple and affordable technology to collect, analyse, and track wound images will be tested, and included in an existing secure video telehealth platform (Coviu). The tool, WoundView, will allow for timely access and improved wound care. The aim of this study is to determine the feasibility of WoundView to improve chronic wound management for people living in RACHs. The results of the pilot will inform a future research to further assess the utility of WoundView.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria6
- Residents:
- Willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the study
- Have a chronic wound at the start of the study period or develop a chronic wound during the study period
- A chronic wound is defined as a wound that has been present for three or more weeks OR is likely to take three or more weeks to heal. The wound must be considered suitable for active treatment as per advice of RACH staff.
- RACH staff and external healthcare providers:
- All staff employed by the participating RACHs and external healthcare providers such as wound care specialist, wound care nurses and General Practitioners, will be eligible to participate in the study if they are aged 18 years or over and can undertake data collection in English.
Exclusion Criteria11
- Residents:
- Cognitive impairment that affects ability to provide informed consent as determined by the facility managers, RACH staff and/or research teams’ clinical judgement at the point of enrolment.
- Sensory or physical that would preclude data collection participation, as determined by the facility managers, RACH staff and/or research teams’ clinical judgement at the point of enrolment
- Other health impairment that would preclude data collection participation including residents who are reliant on medications in the following circumstances:
- a. Participants receiving medication to support end-of-life care (e.g., morphine syringe driver)
- b. Participants with severe mental health conditions where their condition is not adequately controlled by medication at the time of recruitment.
- Have superficial, rapidly healing wounds such as abrasions, blisters, or lacerations
- Chronic wound located on the genital area
- Not fluent in spoken or written English
- RACH staff and external healthcare providers:
- Not fluent in spoken or written English
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Interventions
The intervention, the WoundView plugin, is a novel wound analysis tool integrated with an existing video telehealth platform (Coviu). WoundView links residents who have chronic wounds, and their clinical care staff in Residential Aged Care Homes (RACHs) to external healthcare providers such as wound care specialists, wound nurses, and GPs. External healthcare providers will deliver expert wound care to residents with chronic wounds using the WoundView plugin. The WoundView plugin is a software component that extends the functionality of the existing Coviu telehealth platform. All consultations will take place via telehealth with the resident and their clinical care team in the RACH. WoundView will be used for chronic wound management as often as is required based on the clinical needs of each participant. The participating RACHs are in rural and urban New South Wales, Australia. During the study, resident participants with chronic wounds will be referred to an external healthcare provider who will deliver virtual wound care using the WoundView plugin. Consumer-grade devices such as laptops, mobile phones and tablets will be used by the RACH and external healthcare provider to access WoundView. WoundView will be used in the initial wound assessment lasting approximately 30-45 minutes. During the assessment, wound images will be captured, and all call data (images and documents) will be transmitted peer-to-peer (i.e., between consultation participants) and protected with end-to-end encryption. Ongoing wound consultations and assessments will be undertaken using the WoundView plugin for the duration of the study (approximately three months). WoundView will be used to capture wound images at each wound dressing change (range 3-14 days). A report on WoundView usage will be run weekly by the research team for the duration of the study.
Locations(1)
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ACTRN12625000565448