Alarms help old feel safe at home
In the United Kingdom, telecare is increasingly being used as part of the social care systems, with alarms being offered to 33,000 Essex residents aged 85 and over to support independence and improve quality of life.
The council is investing £4 million in telecare systems and support, which will be available to new telecare applicants who are over 85, as part of the council’s vision to deliver the best quality of life in Britain.
Lord Hanningfield, Leader of Essex County Council understands the challenges of serving an ageing population including the cost of delivering adult social care.
An evaluation of 240 telecare users in Essex demonstrated significant cost benefits, with savings of £3.58 made for every £1 invested into telecare.
As a council, Essex wants to ensure that their most vulnerable residents enjoy the best quality of life by empowering them to make their own choices, stay independent and, if they choose, remain living in their own homes for as long as possible.
Councillor Finch, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Community Wellbeing knew they had to find a creative solution that was fit for the future and believes that technology is an integral part.
Councillor Finch also wanted to use telecare because of its ability to predict and prevent, rather than the traditional social care practice of ‘find and fix’.
“Telecare meets these challenges” Councillor Finch said.
Essex County Council’s investment into telecare reflects the government’s commitment to provide health and social care services closer to people’s homes, and to deliver more personalised care within the community setting.
Essex County Council currently uses intelligent telecare solutions from Tunstall Healthcare which are linked to a 24 hour response centre that supports an estimated 8,000 people.
Jon Lowe, Managing Director at Tunstall Healthcare UK believes Essex has a progressive vision of health and social care delivery which reflects the UK’s drive for more preventative, community based care to meet the demands of its ageing population.
Tunstall telecare is not only unobtrusive, it ensures timely and preventative care when needed, raising an alert to Tunstall’s 24 hour response centre, providing care if and when it is needed.
This enables people to stay safe at home, and helps prevent unnecessary admissions to hospital or long term institutional care.
