Tell Touch – A digital health intervention for the Aged Care Sector: An evaluation pilot

This project reports on a pilot evaluation of Tell Touch - a digital communication application. The evaluation had two purposes. Firstly, the developers of Tell Touch wanted to understand the benefits and challenges of instigating a full evaluation of Tell Touch. Secondly, the effectiveness of Tell Touch as a communication platform for complaints and feedback handling in an Aged Care Home was examined from the perspective of the staff who use the application tool. Tell Touch was developed as a feedback and complaints application tool (app) for use in Aged Care Homes (ACHs). The objective of the app is to improve the quality of care provided to residents by facilitating ACHs to be more consumer-oriented and comply with or exceed the four requirements of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQ&SC) Standard 6. A review of the literature determined the Technology Adoption Model (TAM) as one of the most effective frameworks used in health care settings to assess the adoption of technology. The TAM has been validated in research as a conceptual model that can predict a substantial portion of the use or acceptance of IT health-related settings. Thus, the TAM was used to develop hypothesis to be explored using quantitative data. Qualitative data was collected to better understand the experience of ACH staff in using Tell Touch; specifically, to understand if Tell Touch was perceived as useful, and if Tell Touch satisfied the needs of ACH management for information that would improve services to residents and meet accreditation requirements. The data collected came from eight operational and top managers working in six ACHs across Victoria, and was collected over the period April to October 2022. Findings suggest a full evaluation of Tell Touch is feasible using the research design, tools and methods adopted in this project. Furthermore, early findings from this pilot evaluation indicate Tell Touch does meet the purposes for which it was developed; that is it is an effective IT communication platform for complaints and feedback handling in ACHs.