Creating a Successful Recording Environment for Clinical Programs
We have many customers who use CaseCracker for clinical purposes–from speech and hearing clinics to autism clinics and child advocacy centers–the great ones all have a few things in common to ensure a successful recording environment for treatment, research, and observation. Here are a few tips we came up with to create a successful clinical recording environment:
A space designed with character
The best clinics are designed to be welcoming, encouraging and fun. They are designed with lots of windows and skylights to bring in natural light as opposed to artificial fluorescent lighting. This is not only best for recording purposes, but also allows patients to feel more comfortable and open up during their sessions. For example, one of our autism clinic customers has designed an award-winning space with 9 rooms all equipped with the CaseCracker digital recording system. Each room has an overwhelming amount of natural light and circular design consisting of rounded walls and edges.
Fun treatment/interview environments
It’s important to make patients feel relaxed in a clinic–whether it be an autism clinic, speech clinic or child advocacy center. The rooms should have soft and comfortable seating like couches or bean bag chairs. They also have toys, books, puzzles and games to promote interactive play and communication during sessions. This helps the interviewer to get the best recorded session possible during his/her time with the patient.
A comfortable observation room
Transparency internally is key in a great clinic. A well-equipped observation room allows researchers to collaborate on evaluation of patients, review behavioral testing and catch subtle nuances that the professional conducting the interview may not pick up on right away. Researchers, psychologists, teachers and family members can be nearby and trade ideas easily and efficiently. Numerous monitors and large TVs can be installed in observation rooms. Our customer at the UCONN Hearing and Speech Clinic has 10 treatment rooms set up that all link back to the observation room. The monitors and TVs display the recording activity for each room and students and staff are able to easily view the recordings from the observation rooms.
Rooms are often equipped with Pan Tilt Zoom cameras
Patients, especially kids, tend to move around the room and all patients vary in height. Use of a PTZ camera allows for getting the best angle and zoom every time, no matter the patient. We have some customers who have gotten creative with the installation of cameras– even installing them on height adjustable poles, so regardless of the age or height of the patient, the best image is recorded. When using PTZ cameras, it’s important to note there must always be someone observing and controlling the camera when conducting an interview.
The goal for any clinical program is to record high quality sessions with each patient they work with. Video is an effective tool that enables professionals to collaborate, train, and study sessions that take place within their organization. Check out the video below to see how the UCONN Hearing and Speech Clinic uses CaseCracker to record sessions with patients:
