Dementia Care with Dignity - Telecare Realises Independence for Patients and Carers

Telecare solutions are a proven alternative to institutionalisation for people with dementia, helping individuals to retain independence and dignity and assisting their carers, says specialist Tunstall. Such solutions can also be instrumental in delivering real cost savings which can be re-directed into other key areas.

The Tony Robinson film "Me and my Mum" in the Channel 4 series "The Trouble with Older People", highlighted the issues around dementia care and painted a bleak picture for both individuals and carers.

However, Tunstall says that pioneering UK telecare projects, such as Northamptonshire County Council's Safe at Home scheme are clearly demonstrating telecare's benefits in supporting the independence of people with dementia, and in delivering cost savings to the councils and healthcare organisations that implement them. Indeed, in a recent interview on Radio 4, Care Minister, Liam Byrne stated an expectation that telecare could save the NHS as much as £250 million a year.

Tunstall points to a November 2005 report (1) on Northamptonshire County Council's Safe at Home project, which showed the effectiveness of telecare in helping people with dementia, remain independent. The project involved 233 individuals with dementia and their carers, using telecare to support patients in their own homes, and gave local agencies in Northamptonshire equivalent savings of over £1.5million during the 21-month research period.

A group of people with dementia were given assistive technology appropriate to their needs, against a comparator group with similar age and gender profiles. The report showed that integrating assistive technology solutions into existing care provision enabled four times the number of individuals to remain living independently in their own homes than in the comparator group, over the research period.

The technology provided help and reassurance for people with dementia and their carers in Northamptonshire. Carers reported feeling less stressed and saw improvements in the well-being of the individuals they were supporting. One carer involved in the project commented, "It means I no longer need to visit my mother four to five times each day to check on her safety. Now my visits are more social.

According to Alison Rogan, Marketing Director of Tunstall, "The results from projects in Northamptonshire, together with others in the UK, clearly illustrate the health benefits and improvements in quality of life that telecare delivers to people with dementia and their carers. It also highlights the savings in care delivery for local councils and healthcare organisations."

"At least 40% of people with dementia experience some incidence of unaccompanied walking as a result of their condition. Telecare supports the introduction of simple technologies such as property exit sensors, which can detect exit from a property between pre-set times and so will raise an alarm if there is a failure to sense a return after a pre-set period. Bed sensors which fit under a mattress and gently turn on a bedside light when a person leaves their bed at night, lowering it automatically upon their return or, when used with a timer, raise an alarm if someone has failed to return to bed after a short time can proactively help manage the risks of unaccompanied walking, giving both the carer and individual greater security. Individuals, carers and providers of care should be encouraged by the Government's commitment to telecare in the form of the £80million Preventative Technology Grant (PTG). This is available to local authorities and PCT partners and can support projects similar to the ones we’ve highlighted. Such projects can realise tremendous cost savings which can be diverted back into front-line services to further support the patient."

(1) If you would like to learn more you can read Dementia Care - Safe at Home

(2) Northamptonshire County Council at www.tunstall.co.uk/casestudies

For further information about dementia and telecare technology please see Tunstall's Dementia Care Technology Guide at www.tunstall.co.uk/guides