Funding New Ideas and Problem Solving

illustration of colorful light bulb

Princeton Health Innovations, a grant program funded by philanthropy to promote innovation and creative problem solving, recently awarded three grants to programs and services proposed by Penn Medicine Princeton Health (PMPH) clinicians, physicians, and other employees.

These Princeton Health units will jointly receive approximately $50,000 to initiate or continue programs to improve patient outcomes, support staff members, or advance organizational goals.

This year’s grantees and projects are:

Tilt-in-space wheelchairs for lower-functional-level clients (Acute Rehab Unit)

Purchase of tilting wheelchairs as a solution for lower functioning patients with low blood pressure and poor postural control
Chairs also assist with rehab to help individuals reach their highest level of function and decrease the number of falls

Implementation of iQueue software to maximize infusion volume (PMPH Outpatient Infusion)

Purchase of a software program to increase volume for additional chemotherapy treatments, more efficiently use nurses’ time, and improve patient satisfaction

Piloting clinical health psychology at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center (Psychiatry)

Piloting the integration of behavioral health services for patients to access immediate and in-network psychosocial care to improve physical and mental health outcomes

Innovations Grants are an important part of Princeton Health’s culture of fostering new ideas and collaboration. Highlighted to the right is an example of a past grantee and the progress they are making through the support of community philanthropy. If you are interested in directly supporting this grants program, or to learn more, please email PMPH-innovations@PennMedicine.Upenn.edu, or call 609.252.8710.

In 2021, Princeton House Behavioral Health was awarded a grant to purchase virtual reality equipment to be used as an interventional tool to address anxiety, stress, and trauma by using guided imagery and calming distraction. The immersive nature of virtual reality devices helps highly distractible patients retain focus, and, therefore, increase intervention effectiveness when used in a small group setting.

Since the start of the program in 2022, over 100 patients have participated in our Coping with Anxiety Through Virtual Reality sessions. The average anxiety reduction rate was 35%, and the vast majority of participants found the new technology to be extremely helpful as part of their treatment.

This program has shown strong success, and the goal is to continue expanding this new technology into more units at Princeton House.

In this video, Yuko Martin, MA, MT-BC, LPC, ACS, the director of allied clinical therapies at Princeton House Behavioral Health Inpatient Service discusses how Princeton House therapists are using VR technology in combination with traditional therapy to retrain the brain to handle life’s stressors. Even the big ones that cause overwhelming feelings of fear, dread, and uneasiness.

Article as seen in Foundation News Fall 2023.

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