Mindful Garden

06/13/2024

Mark and I are extremely excited to announce we have graduated from the ambitious nine-month long Creative Destruction Lab program in the Biomedical Engineering cohort -- and have been selected as well as one of 16 companies to present on the 'big stage' in Toronto next week. This program aimed at mentoring early stage startups to be massively scaleable and change the world was a game-changer for us and facilitated goals we had not thought possible as we build the first clinically validated biofeedback platform for hospital acquired delirium. Delirium is a $92B direct cost to North American healthcare annually and can affect every age, but particularly up to 70% of those in the ICU. Unlike dementia, delirium (a sudden change in the brain) is often reversible IF diagnosed and if the agitated and disorienting behaviours can be managed. At MIndfulGarden we want to be that 'tool of first reach' for nurses BEFORE they reach for antipsychotics and physical restraints. CDL and the world-class mentors it attracts helped us set the goals to get there! Creative Destruction Lab

06/11/2024

Day 3 for MindfulGarden partner Mark Ross at the AmericanDelirumSociety annual conference in Sacramento. Mark reports being surrounded by (quite literally) some of the most caring and knowledgeable delegates you could ask for, from all corners of North America and beyond. All dedicated to serving the Conference theme: A World Without Delirium. Delirium has prevalence of over 70% in today's ICUs, has a 2.5X greater cost of care, and most alarmingly, has a 9X increased chance of cognitive decline post discharge, including earlier onset of dementia.

03/13/2024

Important information on this World Delirium Awareness Day. So proud to be working with our team on non-drug approaches to the management of behaviours associated with this condition that affects so many lives -- up to 70% of patients in ICU and especially our seniors. Tip sheet in the column is good to take with you to the hospital when caring for a loved one.

World Delirium Awareness Day

03/05/2024

Don't miss this upcoming event with Dr. Steven Reynolds and Circle Innovation -- both very important to the evolution of our MindfulGarden HealthTech company. March 12th 4:45 to 6:45 at Converge, 777 Hornby. Register: https://tinyurl.com/mr2zte5b
Circle Innovation Vancouver Tech Journal

08/18/2023

Such a privilege to be part of the work of DigiBC. This was a terrific program and we hope it returns next year!

📢 DigiBC is thrilled to announce the CodeForward Scholarship that has been created to help young girls learn new skills in STEM and broaden interest in careers across the creative tech sector! There are 4 scholarships available for the DigiCamp: Online Video Game Development Coding Camp for Girls which will be held over the summer.

This incredible opportunity is open to 8-13 year olds who self-identify as girls and is suitable for a wide range of novice and beginner coders (no previous experience is necessary and returning campers are welcome). The week-long session is project-based, and campers will create a HTML5 game using PixelPAD and Python.

🗓️ Application Deadline: Friday, June 23 @ 6:00pm PST
➡ Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gzjxK66J

10/11/2022

Today the team at MindfulGarden is reflecting on World Mental Health Day. It's easy to just dismiss it as too big a concept to wrap one's head around. But I urge you to make a mental map of all this day implies: Personal struggles, family trauma, the mental health issues brought forward as a result of war, gun violence, migration, or just for not being seen for who you really are. The list sadly is near endless. But the first step isn't. Reach out to someone today who just needs' hello.' Then reach out further and donate time or money to a group that is working to ease these conditions. Then reach out even further to ensure that mental health is a priority in programs politically at local, province/state, and national levels. Do this and it will not just be a day ... but a movement.

07/22/2022

It's a start... as entrepreneurs begin to see that social impact business in the area of eldercare or those with diverse abilities is profitable we'll start to see more innovation in this area. So smart that they worked with Lisa M. Cini at Mosaic Design who is a leading designer in the field of long-term care and Alzheimer's. Worth looking at her The Werner House and how she and collaborators design for aging in place. https://infinite-living.org/services.

The Accessible Home modifies some of the brand’s most popular products so they’re better suited for people with disabilities.

07/08/2022

"The medicine of the future will be music and sound."
~ Edgar Cayce (1877-1945)

Giant Meagaphones built by a team of architecture students from the Estonian Academy of Arts to listen to the sounds of nature, a place for resting, healing and contemplation in Baumkronenweg Park, Kopfing, Austria.
📸: Anne Rongas

06/05/2022

Countdown begins for five great companies. All are deserving and a real pleasure to be included. Thanks to Spring Activator and TELUS Health Impact Investor Challenge FINALE

05/09/2022

National Nursing Week and 'thank you' feels woefully inadequate. This past two years with MindfulGarden we have been introduced to the most amazing nurses in critical care and have been humbled at the environment they have had to navigate in terms of workload, policy, and public compliance (or lack thereof). Many are leaving the field; this week (and always) we have to envision a care system without them and adjust accordingly .

05/02/2022

At MindfulGarden, we believe 'when anxiety is lowered, care begins™ -- We know that if we can facilitate the body's own natural ability to calm, the requirement for chemical and physical restraints (with all their deleterious side effects) will be minimized. Our support to this week's Mental Health Week and our encouragement that we all look for ways to be more empathetic one to another.

04/29/2022

What an amazing experience and our thanks to and for putting together such a terrific event. Very honoured to be moving forward with our non-pharmacological alternative to chemical and physical restraints in the management of agitated behaviours in the hospitalized elderly, beginning with delirium. When anxiety is lowered, care begins™.

📣 Big news! This week investors selected the Top 5 companies who will participate in the 6-week core program of the Health Impact Investor Challenge, presented by the TELUS for Good. The Program will culminate in June where these Top 5 healthcare impact ventures from across Canada will pitch for a chance to win $165,000 in investments.

Congratulations to the Top 5 for being selected and to the entire Top 10 for delivering excellent pitches!

● Mindful Garden Digital Health – Vancouver, British Columbia
● ImaginAble Solutions – Hamilton, Ontario
● Solutions – Vancouver, British Columbia
● Ginger Desk – Vancouver, British Columbia
● UVX – Vancouver, British Columbia

Learn more about the Top 5 startups and secure your free ticket for the virtual finale pitch event on June 8 here 👉 https://loom.ly/1GbCDTE

03/16/2022

Delirium is a medical emergency that 2.5X's cost of care, 3X in-hospital mortality, 2X readmissions, increases risk of dementia, and can have up to 80% prevalence in ICUs. At MindfulGarden Digital Health, we are dedicated to finding a non-pharmacological alternative to managing agitated behaviours in the institutionalized elderly. So proud of our crew and our partners at evaluation sites in Canada and the US and especially to Royal Columbian Hospital's Dr. Steven Reynolds and team who just completed a 70-patient RCT in acute care that armed us with important clinical validation forward. Today on World Delirium Day we thank key Canadian supporters who see 'age-tech'' as an important area for research and funding: Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation Trade Commissioner Service - Global Affairs Canada, National Research Council Canada / Conseil national de recherches Canada, AGE-WELL, Simon Fraser University and Dr. Gloria Gutman, the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation and uber clinical nurse specialist, Fraser Health and our muse -- Marcia Carr.

01/06/2022

Apologies -- The MindfulGarden crew haven't been tending our own 'garden' well on Facebook this year. Our clinical study (NCT04652622 to be precise) took up the better part of 2021. As with all research, it was a waiting game and yet we can say happily that our incredible partners Royal Columbian Hospital just enrolled our last patient and the champagne corks are popping. Now the data needs to be crunched and the results analyzed but it was a big milestone and we can't thank the RCH team enough under the inspired leadership of Dr. Steve Reynolds for believing that seeking a non-pharmacological alternative to psychotropic drugs in the management of adverse behaviours in our hospitalized elders is worthy of inquiry. Stay tuned...

09/21/2021

Over 747,000 Canadians are living with Alzheimer's or other dementia -- over 44 million globally. It's a global health crisis that must be remembered -- for those who can't.

09/02/2021

Don’t miss us taking the stage at the 4-city demo day on September 7th! The CTA acts as a catalyst for Canadian start-ups looking to tackle hubs in NYC, SF, Boston and Philly. Check out our incredible cohort and RSVP at https://bit.ly/3A2a4hh

Get tickets to CTA 2021 Digital Health Demo Day, taking place 09/07/2021. Hopin is your source for engaging events and experiences.

03/25/2021

Andre Picard, Globe columnist and author of the hard-hitting but infinitely readable 'Neglected No More' speaks to Day #2 about the current situation for elders in our society, but opens up the possibilities for innovation -- spaces and products and processes that work FOR our older population. "We've had 150 reports over the years so we're not lacking in ideas; we're lacking in action."

03/24/2021

Ashton Appleton dynamic speaker "Everyone is old or future old" -- we need to re-examine our thoughts about age and capacity and embrace fact that longer we live, the more different we become - the diversity should be embraced.