The fellowship is bestowed on to early and mid-career researchers to study and develop expertise on the impact of digital technology and artificial intelligence on compassionate care.
Dr. Alisa Grigorovich, an affiliate scientist with the KITE Research Institute, has been named a 2022 Associated Medical Services (AMS) Research Fellow in Compassion and Artificial Intelligence.
The AMS Compassion and AI program focusses on promoting the integration of digital technology and compassionate care in the delivery of health care services, education of health professionals, and facilitating the leadership needed to realize the promise of technology.
The fellowship is bestowed on to early and mid-career researchers as well as regulated health care professionals to study and develop expertise on the impact of digital technology and artificial intelligence on compassionate care.
“I’m very grateful to receive this award, which will enable me to advance my research into the ethical, social and policy implications of using digital technologies to support the wellbeing of older adults and caregivers” said Dr. Grigorovich, who is an assistant professor of gerontology in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies and Master of Applied Gerontology at Brock University.
As part of her fellowship, Dr. Grigorovich will explore how older adults and caregivers perceive and experience a real-time location system in a long-term care home.
Real-time location systems are technologies that continuously track the location of individuals and assets.
These systems are being implemented in long-term care homes with the goal of improving the quality of care through the automation of some care tasks and prediction of clinically significant changes in resident wellbeing.
Little research has been done to engage residents and caregivers in the evaluation of these technologies. To ensure these systems enhance compassionate care the preferences of these key stakeholders should be integrated into their development and implementation, Dr. Grigorovich said.
Dr. Grigorovich will conduct a qualitative study that will engage 20 residents and 20 caregivers from one long-term care home in Ontario that is implementing a real-time location system.
This study is part of the Space-Time Indices for Clinical Support (STICS) project co-led by KITE scientists Dr. Andrea Iaboni and Dr. Shehroz Khan that aims to create clinically validated tools based on location and movement data collected using this technology.
“My study will address a key gap in knowledge and lead to the development of recommendations and tools for ensuring that location tracking technologies are used in ways that respect and promote the needs and preferences of older adults and caregivers,” said Dr. Grigorovich.
The duration of the fellowship is one-year and recipients may receive up to $75,000 in funding.