Research studies on the two biggest telecare projects in the UK have highlighted the popularity of the technology among users.
One of the reports, Piloting Telecare in Kent County Council: The Key Lessons, focuses on use of telecare in Kent where 550 people are currently piloting a range of telecare interventions. The other study, Smart technology and community care for older people: innovation in West Lothian, Scotland, looks at telecare in West Lothian, described as the biggest telecare project in Europe.
The Kent project currently covers six out of 12 districts in the county with suitable candidates supplied with appropriate sensors to use in their homes which monitor aspects such as falls, movement, smoke and the environment. The county is also piloting telecare to support patients with dementia and those needing intermediate care.
The report found that there were practical problems in implementing telecare in the pilot sites such as getting social services care managers to make enough referrals and also in the variation of data recording between call centres once telecare was in operation.
However it also reported that frontline staff were generally positive about telecare and the benefits it could provide for users, carers and the social services directorate and that those using the technology also felt positively about it.
The report says: “User perceptions were very positive about telecare. The majority of users felt that the equipment gave them a sense of security, increased independence and had worked well in emergencies. Users talked about feeling ‘more relaxed’, ‘more independent’, and ‘safer’ with the telecare.”
Claire Skidmore, telecare project manager for Kent County Council, told EHI Primary Care that the Council was already tackling some of the issues raised in the report which was intended to be a case study rather than a quantative analysis. She said further work on the cost benefits of telecare was now being carried out as part of the next phase of the project which would involve finalising service specifications and then selecting a final set of telecare providers for Kent before the project was rolled out to cover the whole of the county between October and April 2008.
Skidmore said the telecare team in Kent works closely with the county council’s telehealth project which currently provides vital signs monitoring for 125 people with a range of long term conditions including diabetes, chronic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Skidmore said: “The system enables the person to record themselves, or with the help of their carer, their own vital signs such as blood pressure and so on which is sent to a central server and can be accessed by the patient’s GP.
She added: “The telecare and the telehealth project have close links and we obviously have people who have both systems. We are also thinking through the range of telehealth services and on developing our relationships with GPs and practice based commissioning all of which is going to be a big challenge this year.”
The report on West Lothian Council, where anyone over 65 is entitled to a telecare package and more than 2800 households covering 4000 users currently have systems installed, also highlights the positive impact on users’ quality of life.
Report author, Professor Alison Bowes from Stirling University said: “The majority of respondents living at home reported the positive impact of the smart technology. It was widely seen as supporting their safety and security and thus helping them to stay in their own homes. We noticed that many respondents were reluctant to ‘give in’ to a need for help and support, but the technology is available free to anyone over 65 in West Lothian area and this should help reduce any stigma that people may feel.”
Grahame Blair, head of social policy at West Lothian Council, said the council worked closely with primary care through the Community Health and Care Partnership which had one director in charge of social work and social services and primary care.
He told EHI Primary Care: “We get lot of referrals for telecare packages from GPs and the CHCP also has its own mental and continuing care of the elderly beds and we have put some of the smart technology onto the continuing care wards.”
Blair said some of the other projects that were being actively considered at the moment included using video consultations for district nurses to check on their caseload before prioritising visits and technology to check on indicators such as blood pressure readings and highlight exceptions. He said part of the current toolkit including an epilepsy monitor which would prompt an alert when someone was having a seizure or at increased risk of a seizure.
The West Lothian report examined the costs of telecare and concluded that costs can be controlled. It said West Lothian compared well with other Scottish local authorities in its care and support services for older people but, by using telecare it was able to produce high quality care at low cost.
The report’s authors also found that for staff the technology could be a catalyst in a cultural change, enabling staff to focus on promoting independence among older people and providing ‘support’ rather than ‘care’.
The report says West Lothian Council and the local health board are committed to developing the model of care and adding new elements. It says a wide ranging ‘business re-engineering process’ is now underway in West Lothian which will aim to identify areas and gaps which could be overcome with the assistance of technology including the use of telehealth applications for users with acute and chronic conditions such as falling, COPD and diabetes.
Related documents
Piloting Telecare in Kent County Council: The Key Lessons
Smart technology and community care for older people: innovation in West Lothian, Scotland