Invicta’s annual Independence Day Conference held last Friday, 4 July, in the grounds of its HQ in Kent lived up to its paradoxical reputation for being both a relaxed and a lively event.

The morning sessions comprised presentations from consultant Dave Foster (implications of the 21CN changes); Chris Manthorp from the Epic Trust on ‘Creating a client focused Older Persons Strategy’; Jane Bleach who, as a social services care manager in Kent led the pre-WSD Programme telehealth project, and Sara Clarke, CE of the Jewish Community Housing Association. The latter gave an insight into how technology and cultural expectations sometimes collide.

During lunchtime attendees were able to take a tour of the Invicta call monitoring centre. It reinforced awareness of how organised such a centre has it be to handle the number of calls received. (Over 90,000 per month on average last year.)

As can be seen from the photo below, the afternoon got everyone off their seats and involved in advising a group of actors from Arc Theatre over the case of a woman admitted to A&E following a fall, and what her post-discharge options might be. Over the course of an hour the actors, playing family members and a doctor, developed the story which was stopped every five minutes or so for them to consult groups of audience members over their next move in the unfolding dilemma. Surprisingly, it felt very real. True-to-life, moreover - but surprising given the context of the day - it was quite a long time before anyone mentioned the provision of telecare as part of a possible way forward for the patient and her family!

The day finished with a session on service user involvement by Tristan Hodson and Will Myers from the Porchlight charity.

Invicta’s Independence Day was supported by sponsors: Chubb; Cirrus; QuietCare; Supra; Tunstall and Tynetec.

As telemedicine, telehealth and telecare providers get sucked along in the updraft of the digital trend in health care provision, the provocative conference report and the many comments that have become appended to this E-Health Insider Primary Care item may interest many Telecare Aware readers.

The UK’s major annual telecare conference organised by the TSA has been announced for 3–5 November, in Brighton. From the early speakers from Intel and Microsoft to the full workshop programme covering in-depth issues, strategic perspectives and operational perspectives, there is going to be something for everyone, not to mention the networking opportunities. To download the programme as a pdf, click here or on the advert in the right hand sidebar, or register on the TSA conference web page.

Chubb Community Care is taking ‘Telecare and Telehealth’ on the road in a series of events in England, Scotland and Wales during September and October. The events will be an opportunity to find out more about Chubb’s latest developments for falls prevention and provide delegates with networking opportunities with people who have already gone through the process of providing a full telecare and telehealth service.

See Chubb’s website for dates and details or contact Barbara Mathews on 01254 688 548.

RAatE 2008 will take place in Coventry at the Coventry University Technopark, on 1st December 2008. It’s the UK’s only event focused on all types of assistive technology and telecare project outcomes will be a key theme. If you would like to contribute, the call for papers is now open (posters, workshops and discussions are also welcome) and the deadline for submission is 31st August 2008.

Details on the RAatE website.

Course: Telecare Solutions and Assessment of Service Users. London, 10 July 2008 (Also 22 October 2008)

The aim of this telecare training course is to increase knowledge and understanding of telecare technology and its application across a range of client groups. It will use case studies to consider the technology, assessment, funding and ethical considerations.
At the end of the day participants will understand the policy context and the drivers, be aware of the evidence base and sources of reference. They will also be more aware of the key elements of service user assessment and identify a range of solutions to meet the assessed needs. The course will be run by Jennifer Beaumont and will include hands-on, practical training.

Details, DLF website.

Center for Connected Health’s Symposium 2008 at The Conference Center at Harvard Medical October 27-28, 2008 subtitled Who Pays, Who Provides, Who Decides: Consumers, Clinicians and Business Models in the Connected Care Era. Details here.

This conference, organised by Innervate in association with The British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine; The Community Therapists Network; The Telecare Services Association; The Primary Care Neurology Society. promises to be interactive and interesting. View the programme here. (The organisers don’t tell you where and when, only that there is an early booking reduction before 30 July. As far as I can find out it is on Tuesday 16th September 2008, New Connaught Rooms, London.)

Unfortunately, according to the Royal Society of Medicine’s website, there are now no places available for this event on Friday 30 May in London, but readers may like to download the programme to see who is speaking about what (speaker biographies included). There is also business case advice on the iTelecare website.

If you fancy a trip to ‘the world’s northernmost city’, consider the Telemedicine and eHealth Conference 2008, to be held in Tromsø, Norway 9 to 11 June. Details here.

Tynetec will be demonstrating its integrated approach to telecare and telehealth at the annual Chartered Institute for Housing (CIH) conference and exhibition, at Harrogate 17, 18 & 19 June. Press release for further details.

Here are some informed observations from the American Telemedicine Association’s conference in Seattle last month. American Telemedicine Association Annual Meeting posted 25 April.

These are provided by Larry Keyes of Microdesign Consulting. His long-running and highly informative blog is Tech for Non-Profits: “Non-Profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOS) need technology as much as for-profit corporations. Here’s a chronicle of stuff that works, and lamentations for stuff that doesn’t.”

I wasn’t able to get to Med-e-Tel this year, but health informatics blogger Scott did and blogged about it over the days. This link gives you all his posts. Read up from the bottom.

e-Health 2008: 8th & 9th September 2008, London City University.
“The meeting point for Government Ministers, Healthcare Industry Policy Decision-makers, Academics, Clinicians, Homecare Providers, Telecare product vendors, Hospital Managers, Housing Association representatives, Medical Researchers, Investors and IT architects. As well as the opportunity to examine and share ideas with the key people involved in the delivery of healthcare records across the globe there will also be the opportunity to see in action the latest telecare solutions at the exhibition which will be running in conjunction with the conference.” Details here.

London, 16 September, in association with the British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine, the Community Therapists Network, the Primary Care Neurology Society and the Telecare Services Association. Early booking discount before 31 July. Download the flyer for details.