13 July 2022

Set up at the start of the pandemic to help families connect with loved ones in intensive care units (ICU) using Android tablets and a secure online platform, Life Lines continues to innovate as the project looks to the future.

Although hospital visiting has been reinstated, some family members are still unable to visit ICU in person due to a variety of reasons. They could be living too far away or may not have the resources to visit. In person visiting is challenging for small children, and it does not enable the patient to see, albeit virtually, their own home environment.

The Life Lines team is now working with a range of partners to use the learnings from the pandemic to explore how best to retain virtual visiting as an option for patients. 

Life Lines is also implementing innovative digital strategies to enhance outcomes and experiences of ICU patients and family members. These innovations include a digital ICU e-diary and a digital ICU recovery pathway.

The ICU e-diary allows both ICU staff and family members at home to make diary entries on a secure platform. Diaries are an important tool in the psychological recovery of ICU patients and were previously only available as paper versions.

The digital ICU recovery pathway helps patients set, monitor and track their own recovery goals for both hospital and at home, guided by a recovery coordinator.

The Life Lines philosophy is to work collaboratively to maximise the benefit of our Life Lines innovations to patients and families. Addressing individual needs while valuing and honouring differences is central to this.

- Prof Louise Rose, Life Lines Co-Founder -