Team Mobility Summit 2022: A Practical Approach to Partnership in the Early Mobility/SPHM Industry

An interdisciplinary expert review of how safe patient handling technologies can intersect with early mobility took place at the 2022 Team Mobility Summit sponsored by EarlyMobility.com. International expert teams, including patients and technology (equipment) experts, spanned all care settings. The summit was framed by patient survivor and injured caregiver testimonies. Technology experts brought their solutions to each simulated clinical “station” for structured, 30-minute demonstrations and interactive discussions. Afterward, experts completed anonymous online surveys for each session. In addition, experts discussed clinical decision-making while applying equipment in various clinical scenarios across care settings. The format facilitated exposure for experts who had never seen the equipment and helped them see how it could help promote early mobility principles. Focused interdisciplinary collaboration uncovered new understandings of how each discipline could use the equipment for discipline-specific goals toward a united, patient-centered approach. Patient representatives shared their perspectives and enhanced understandings of how to include them in the decision-making process. Equipment companies were also provided immediate feedback from the industry leaders about strengths, limitations, and recommended improvements for their equipment. Work is already underway to expand on and publish work from these preliminary conversations within and between disciplines. Survey data is being analyzed for trends and gaps to build on. The expert team agreed that the summit marked an important milestone in combining the expertise from these fields with the ultimate goal of providing expert consensus recommendations and developing standards of care.

Arnold M

Keywords: early mobility, vendor engagement, simulation learning, safe patient handling, multi-disciplinary teams, technology solutions