Montanans living in group homes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities frequently don’t have access to assistive technology (AT) that could support more independence and ease the rough patches. When we found the Skaggs Institute for Health Innovation Fund, MonTECH jumped on an opportunity to make the frequent blood draws experienced by this population less scary through AT. So began NeedleEase.
The NeedleEase pilot project has three goals: decrease anxiety and fear around procedures involving needles, provide group-home teams with tools to ease their own apprehension around supporting clients during these procedures, and collect data showing the usefulness of AT in Montana group homes.
Four organizations participated in this project. NeedleEase AT kits were gifted to nine of their group homes in exchange for simple data collection. Each kit was worth about $260 and included: a laminated social story, a laminated First-Then support with reward cards, noise-cancelling headphones, a music box with visible gears (for distraction), a fidget, a weighted gel lap pad or weighted plush kitty, and an XL Buzzy (a vibrating device with cold wings to hold “between the pain and the brain”).
We hope clients and staff alike will benefit from these kits and look forward to collecting data that may positively inform future efforts to support Montanans living in group homes.