Bupa New Zealand develops app to bridge communication gap in Aged Care

NEWS  - eHealthNews editor Rebecca McBeth

Bupa New Zealand is rolling out an app designed to connect families with loved ones in aged care.

Blua is being piloted across four Bupa facilities and provides real-time updates on residents' daily activities, meals, mood and care. 

Josh Byers, head of customer and transformation at Bupa New Zealand, says the platform aims to solve fundamental challenges around connection, transparency and accountability in aged care.

"Many families are not in the same town or city as their loved one, so they are not fortunate enough to be able to just pop in to a care home," he says. 

"Many of the family involved are what we call the ‘sandwich generation’, where they have dependence on both sides. They have got their kids or grandkids, and then they have their parents, and it is pretty hard for them on a daily basis to be connected with their loved one."

The app has been in development for around a year and has been co-designed with families and residents.

Blua pulls information from Bupa's existing clinical systems as well as incorporating new digital touchpoints created for the platform. Staff now document additional things including photographs of meals and more detailed records of a resident’s day for family to see.

It allows families to see when their loved one was bathed, what mood they were in, what they had for lunch, and which activities they participated in throughout the day. 

Byers tells eHealthNews that by recording all of this information digitally, it creates a higher level of accountability and transparency than traditional paper-based systems.

However, not all family members want the same level of information and future versions will allow users to customise which metrics and updates they want to see.

Byers says initial feedback has been "phenomenal," with families particularly liking the increased transparency and accountability, saying the real-time updates have increased their trust.

The app is the foundation of Bupa's broader digital health strategy for older people in New Zealand and plans are to eventually integrate medical-grade wearables, alert systems, and remote health services through the platform.

"We believe there is a real opportunity whereby Bupa plays a far bigger part in the healthcare sector for older people," he says. 

Blua is currently focused on family communication, but Bupa plans to expand functionality for independent living residents in retirement villages.

The future could include 24/7 monitoring through wearables, medication reminders, digital physiotherapy sessions, and video consultations, he says.

Image: Blua app screenshots

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