Optimizing online therapy with cognitive rehabilitation
Executive functions are a collection of higher-level cognitive abilities that support decision making, planning, attentional focus, and error correction. Mental slowing, inefficiency, and feeling blue are – to some degree – expected with any serious illness. Goal Management TrainingTM (GMT) is a made-in-Ontario healthcare innovation, developed by researchers at Baycrest, a Toronto-based academic health science institution affiliated with the University of Toronto. GMT incorporates decades of neuroscientific research as well as applied clinical practice. Recent funding has allowed for the digitization of GMT and increased accessibility to users. However, with the assistance of the intern and funding from Mitacs – we aim to create a smart-phone app that will help Ontario patients suffering from the long-term effects of COVID-19. Baycrest will augment its dissemination activities to therapists as well as clinical service provision to the community. As a digital intervention available in English and French, we will broaden access from healthcare providers to remote communities where access to in-person treatment is lacking.