In 2024, technology has played an increasingly important role in behavioral healthcare environments. From user-centered software designed to support patient well-being, to advanced monitoring systems to keep patients safe within high-risk settings, technology continues to enhance patient experience, safety, and improve overall care outcomes.
As Your Partner in Patient Safety, this year we’ve innovated in line with this trend to ultimately help you create safer, more therapeutic environments. This year saw the introduction of our new patient wellness technology offering, the SERENITY Interactive Panel, as well as the arrival of our award-winning KOSMOS Smart Monitoring System, providing advanced ligature monitoring, reporting, and data analysis for behavioral healthcare facilities.
Smart Building Design: Ensuring Physical & Emotional Safety
Modern behavioral healthcare centers are increasingly trying to reduce the institutionalized feel and stigma associated with facilities of the past, instead implementing designs that are adaptive, user-centered, and built with the emotional well-being of both patients and staff in mind. Smart building design in these environments can benefit both the physical and emotional safety of patients and staff, with each detail contributing to a safer and more supportive environment. Our most recent technology innovations are helping behavioral health environments achieve this throughout North America and globally.
From a physical safety point of view, the Kingsway DTM (Door Top Monitor) ligature-alarmed door system allows behavioral health centers to optimize their staff’s ability to keep patients safe. Installed in high-risk locations, such as patient bedrooms or ensuite rooms, the DTM automatically triggers the staff alarm when a ligature-attempt is detected, enabling rapid clinical response to life-threatening incidents.
Historically, the effectiveness of ligature monitor alarms in behavioral health has been widely debated, in part, due to the limitations that came with legacy solutions of old. This debate, however, is now subsiding. With the unique design of Kingsway’s integrated ligature monitor alarms, the life-saving benefits of such technology are now being recognized – over 200 behavioral health facilities globally now trust the Kingsway DTM system to improve safety and minimize the risk of patient suicide in their care environments.
From an emotional safety and well-being point of view, it’s important that patient rooms are designed to be secure, calming, and welcoming while respecting patient privacy. The Kingsway SERENITY Interactive Panel provides patients with an enhanced sense of control over their environment, allowing them to customize their lighting, select their preferred calming sounds, plan their routine and lots more, promoting comfort and a sense of independence. SERENITY also encourages proactive communication between patients and staff via its ‘Check in’ feature, in which the patient can select how they are feeling from a range of emotions. If a distressed emotion is logged, staff can proactively check in with the patient to see how they are doing and provide the necessary care before an incident takes place.
By integrating technologies such as these into facility design, smart buildings are redefining patient care, creating spaces where patient well-being, security, and personalization come together to support better outcomes.
Technology Enhanced Patient Rooms
Technology is helping to transform patient rooms into interactive and inclusive spaces that support personalized care in behavioral health. The integration of technology, such as the SERENITY Interactive Panel, empowers patients to better manage their surroundings, giving them the ability to control lighting, sounds, and browse personal photos and videos within their room. This kind of personalized control not only contributes to a calming space but also enables healthcare providers to create customized, therapeutic settings that align with each patient’s unique needs.
Technology can also help patients to feel a greater sense of involvement in, and awareness of, their care pathway and healing process, something that can often be essential in the success of behavioral health settings. With the SERENITY panel, staff can upload ward schedules and information directly to SERENITY for patients to view. When facilities adopt these innovations, rooms are no longer passive spaces but become active components of care.
Looking ahead to 2025
The integration of technology into behavioral health facility design is more than a trend. It is a vital step forward in creating environments that prioritize patient well-being, staff efficiency, and overall therapeutic impact. Moving into 2025, the role of thoughtful design and advanced technology will continue to shape behavioral health spaces.
If you’re interested in exploring how Kingsway’s solutions, such as the SERENITY Interactive Panel and Door Top Monitor (DTM), can improve patient care and enhance facility design, reach out to our team at [email protected]. We’re here to help you create spaces that reflect the future of behavioral health.
Online Event: Join us as we continue the conversation on Tuesday, November 19!
We’re excited to welcome a special guest speaker for the final Kingsway Group Lunch & Learn of 2024 – Brian Giebink! As behavioral and mental health practice leader at HDR, Brian plays an integral part in the creation of world leading behavioral health centers across North America. The Lunch & Learn will explore key trends that have emerged in behavioral health through 2024 while looking ahead at the anticipated changes we may experience in 2025.
