Meet RITA ITU
Rehabilitation & Interactive Therapy Activities
Clinically led enhancements have been added to RITA to support longer term complex Critical Care patients including those recovering from COVID19. It features a suite of interactive activities and therapy tools assist in stimulating the patient, lifting their mood and wellbeing and connecting them with the outside world all from their bedside.
It is estimated that 80% of patients in intensive care experience delirium and for COVID 19 patients the figure is even higher. RITA ITU will help reduce incidences of delirium and support those experiencing it. The ITU environment is known for provoking delirium as there’s lots of noise and sometimes constant light, RITA ITU will help to calm and stimulate patients using sounds, music, imagery and content appropriate to the individual.
RITA ITU also incorporates the CAM-ICU & 4AT delirium assessment tools and Imperial College Healthcare’s DREAMS rescue package (Drugs; Reorientate; Environment; Analgesia; Mobilise; Sedation and safety.) DREAMS contains a checklist to be completed by staff the first time a patient scores CAM-ICU positive. It prompts staff to check a number of factors: whether a patient uses a hearing aid, is thirsty, whether they smoke or take drugs, and so on. We also use the DREAMS package to keep family involved, often asking them to bring in personal items such as pyjamas or a duvet.
RITA ITU
”I’m delighted to see Imperial Intensive care team co-designing RITA-ITU to support the cognition and rehabilitation of people who are at risk of or experiencing delirium in the ICU setting. It’s great to see a system which works so well in other areas of the acute setting being adapted to meet this need and is particularly pertinent at the moment given the high rates of delirium being seen in COVID 19 patients.”
Jo James - Lead nurse, Dementia
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
”I am very excited to be working towards bringing RITA into the critical care setting to promote early rehabilitation amongst both patients and healthcare colleagues. In particular we are keen to explore its potential to facilitate co-ordination of patients daily rehabilitation timetable and provide patients with activities to complete outside of their therapy sessions."
Alice Harrison - Respiratory Physiotherapist
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
"Here at Basildon we have RITA - One monitor on wheels and 2 tablets.
Basildon Hospital
