Telecare Aware

Will you laugh or cry after reading the article Telecare scheme branded ‘waste of money’ from the Lancashire Evening Telegraph?

You might laugh in disbelief. If the county council has not been able to persuade the leaders of the district councils within its jurisdiction of the value of a preventative approach that will improve independent living for their constituents, how will it be able to persuade social workers to promote the service convincingly?

Or will you cry because it seems like another sign (*) that the promotion of telecare in England is coming off the rails? It’s something that many feared might happen, right from the announcement of the Preventative Technology Grant conditions.

Read the article and leave a comment with your reaction.

This article by the Care Services Improvement Partnership’s Mike Clark and Jeremy Porteus, ‘Telecare in the Community‘ is a description of the official view of the current state of telecare and telehealth in the UK, with a cautious look towards possible future developments. Inside Housing is a weekly magazine and website for people involved in the social housing sector. Thanks to Guy Dewsbury for spotting this.
The above article link opens a PDF file in your browser, and it is very difficult to read unless you enlarge the text. An alternative is to save a copy and print it to read.

Timex producing a ‘medical alert’ watch, described in this story.

The university has developed a range of wireless sensor technologies with IBM to assist the elderly and infirm to increase their independence and maintain a better quality of life. A ’smart house’ containing devices designed to help monitor the inhabitant’s health is being showcased at the Gator Tech Smart House laboratory at the University of Florida.

Reporting in theInternational Journal of Electronic Healthcare, Thulasi Bai and S.K. Srivatsa from Sathyabama University in Tamil Nadu, India, have developed a wearable (bluetooth-based) cardiac “telemedicine” system for post-cardiac patients. Article from the Washington Post.

AeroScout a provider of Wi-Fi-based Active RFID and Surecom, specialist in IT&C services have announced that they are working together to implement a first of its kind medical alerting system for PresCare, a large Australian aged care provider. PresCare required a flexible, mobile alerting and nurse-call system which could ensure the safety of all residents at all times, while still allowing them the freedom to move around the entire facility. Measurement Device News.

Bring out the birthday cake, the Continua Alliance of telehealth system manufacturers and suppliers is one year old today and it seems it has had a healthy start. According to Continua’s latest newsletter it has grown in that time from 22 to 122 members. Its mission is “Fostering independence through establishing a system of interoperable personal telehealth solutions that empower people and organizations to better manage health and wellness.”

The Alliance’s website came in for early criticism for its lack of readability, so you’d think that after a year it could come up with an improved one - oops, sorry, it has, according to the newsletter, which, regarding the Marketing Working Group says “If you haven’t noticed, the MWG recently launched our new web site design! The new site is easier to read” Personally, I’m perplexed as to why they haven’t adopted the simplest way of improving readability, by changing from grey text to black.

However, what I did like about the site is that it singles out for special mention the people who have been active in the working groups and who are therefore influencing the agenda. These key contributors include 3 from Intel, 2 from Philips, 2 from Tunstall and one each from IBM, Cisco, Boston Scientific, iMetricus, Partners Healthcare, Precor and S3.

Pleased to see too that the Alliance has had a financially healthy start in life. Currently, there are 49 Promoting Members and 73 Contributing Members listed. At annual subscriptions of $35,000 and $5,000 respectively, a quick calculation shows that first year income for the Alliance has been $2,080,000 - plus undisclosed contributions from the founding members. Presumably the subscriptions are a small price to pay for a seat at the table of the body that will agree the interoperability standards to which everyone will eventually conform.

Search the Continua Alliance’s website for clues to the future of telehealth, and probably telecare and telemedicine too. And perhaps make a wish for truly outstanding outcomes as the birthday cake candle is blown out.

Talking of website revamps, Telemedcare has just improved its site. Enhancements include an interactive guide demonstrating the benefits of its clinical web portal (database presenting the end users vital signs) and a short film featuring Mr Stick Man demonstrating how falls prevention technology can potentially help reduce the likelihood of a fall. (Look in the downloads section.) The latter is a story with an interesting outcome - readers are invited to leave a comment below.
Press release about the changes. The new Telemedcare site.

The US’s 4th July Independence Day celebrations were the peg for Independence Day for Older and Disabled People in the UK. Arguably the best event was Invicta Telecare’s annual conference. Download a brief report here.

The Extend Group - residents from a sheltered housing scheme who take part in exercise for older people. Two are over 90 years old.

At the conference.

Invicta’s MD Steve Davies in presidential mode.

Choose Independence will be working in partnership with the TSA, its members and other key stakeholders to review and update the current Code of Practice Parts I, II and III to reflect the rapidly changing Telecare environment in the UK and to ensure the Code meets the needs of the TSA and its customers. Press release.

The network is being provided to the NHS by BT under the National Programme for IT (NPfIT), to create a discrete network for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly NHS. The COIN project is part-funded by Connecting for Health, which runs NPfIT. Because of its difficult geography and remote locations such as the Isles of Scilly, the local NHS is increasing the use of ‘telecare’ – healthcare that is remotely delivered to patients in their own homes. ComputerWorldUK article. Still no news of the Cornish Whole System Demonstrator project, though.

Researchers from the University of South Australia have been using garment integrated electronic technology to develop smart garments that, when placed on electronic hangers, enable monitored data to be downloaded in a heartbeat to a computer in your wardrobe, and then be recharged ready for wearing. Entertaining pointer to the future reported by Wireless Healthcare.

The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) has a new working group on smart homes and ambient assisted living. Visit the site and sign up for the mailing list to contribute to it and be informed of events. International Medical Informatics Association site.

Coventry University has received the go-ahead for the £4.5 million Health Design and Technology Institute (HDTI), due to open in 2008. The institute’s aim is to help SMEs design products and services to improve community healthcare and manage health at home, aided by the latest diagnostic tools, monitoring devices and technology. Full story from the Birmingham Post.

Home security monitoring by video, plus notification if a person is not up and about following their normal routine by a specified time in the morning. Basic service cost is $19.95 per month, plus initial equipment and add-on costs. Bell Home Monitoring press release.

Link to website. (Note you are directed to a page called ‘Pre Sale’…)