My Care Board is a quality improvement process to implement a delirium prevention communication board at the bedside in hospitalized older adult patients. The elements of the My Care Board are based on the Hospital Elder Life Program interventions which were demonstrated to result in a 40% risk reduction in delirium. There are additional elements for personhood and free space to facilitate communication between patients/care partners and the clinical team. My Care Board is customized to each unit based on patient population and the type of care provided. Through years of research and iterative improvements since 2015, we have established design principles, an implementation process and methods to evaluate the My Care Board in each clinical setting.

My Care Board implementation process:

  1. Clinical team expresses an interest in using the My Care Board to improve outcomes of hospitalized older adults
  2. Clinical team engages with Delirium Research Group to co-design the My Care Board for unit and develop a strategy for implementation and evaluation
  3. Conduct preimplementation staff surveys, environmental audits and patient/care partner surveys
  4. Install My Care Board and needed accessories in unit
  5. Engage staff with education and encouragement to use the My Care Board
  6. Conduct post-implementation staff surveys, environmental audits (e.g. completion rate, adherence to sign elements), and patient/care partner surveys
  7. Review the data and consider further iterative Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles to improve the evaluation metrics (e.g., completion rate, adherence, delirium prevalence).

Before starting the implementation process, it is helpful to consider the following factors for successful implementation:

  • Leadership support and commitment for implementing the My Care Board, including manager and director-level support
  • Identify at least one local champion (clinical team member) who will lead the implementation and work with the Delirium Research Group on the QI process
  • Support of the nursing team
  • Funding for printing signs, purchasing accessories (e.g. markers), and installation
  • Willingness to engage with the Delirium Research Group for the design, implementation and evaluation process