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An augmentative picture communication board for the voice-disabled patient focussing on health care topics

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Effective communication in health care situations can be difficult, especially for those with speech disabilities. Vidatak has teamed up with Children’s Hospital Boston to create a picture version of the HealthCare Word Communication Board that focuses on health care topics. Designed for the hospital, clinic, and school nurse’s office, this handy tool uses easy-to-understand symbols and simple text to help users communicate symptoms, requests, and pain levels.

Called the HealthCare Picture Board, this light-weight, portable, non-electronic augmentative communication device offers a bridge between the caretaker and the nonverbal patient. The HealthCare Picture Board features pre-printed text and images that the patient can point to, thus allowing a simple yet insightful form of augmentative communication. The verbally-disabled patient can quickly and easily express phrases that convey wants (“I want to sleep”), physical states (“I’m cold”), and instructions (“Brush my teeth”).

The back of the augmentative communication board holds a body chart to which the patient can point to any area in which they experience pain. Next to the chart lies a column of several words describing the type and degree of the pain. If the verbally-impaired patient needs to express more information, an area on the back of the augmentative communication board can be written on with non-toxic erasable markers.

Features and benefits

• Large, easy-to-read text
• “I Am” tab to indicate state of being (I am short of breath, I am thirsty, I am afraid, I am in pain, I am dizzy, etc)
• “I Want” tab to indicate wants and needs (I want to be suctioned, I want my family, I want water, I want the lights on or off, etc)
• Pictures of the body which the patient can use to indicate needs in a certain area
• Colour-coded pain intensity levels from 0-10 to describe listed discomforts (itching, stings, can’t move, numb, burns, etc)

The board also enables patients to thank their practitioner and carer. “Something that many of the patients testing the communication board requested specifically,” said Lance Patak, the inventor of the board.

The 43.2cm x 28cm (17” x 11”), two-sided, dry erase boards are individually shrink-wrapped and preassembled with a dry-erase marker.

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Prices

	Code	Media	Platform	$AUD Price	$AUD GST
	HealthCare Picture Board
	DP15550	Resource		$40.00	$4.00