Nottingham telehealth monitoring (UK)

March 17, 2008 | by | 1 Comment

Nottingham PCT aims to monitor around 800 people each year with long-term conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure, using Tunstall equipment. Press release.

[Comment: This is the third press release in recent times to headline the word ‘mainstreaming’ in the context of a deployment that is bigger than the usual pilot study. Is ‘mainstream’ now becoming redefined to mean ‘large scale pilot’? Surely something isn’t mainstream until it is routinely offered to everyone who could benefit from it? I’ve flagged this item for the ‘Terminology’ category because perhaps the meaning of ‘mainstream’ should be part of the terminology debate.]

Two free reports

February 28, 2008 | by

Here are two free reports you should consider downloading.

First, The Center for ConnectedHealth’s 2007 Progress Report. Good if you want a wide-ranging look at current remote health monitoring and care delivery trends in the US. [And in Second Life…I wonder if not being able to fly or grow a tail count as health problems in that virtual world?] Interesting stuff, and you can download it from this page on the Center’s website.

Second, there’s the S2S (Strategies to Solutions) discussion paper, called Technology to Support the Ageing Global Population 2007 to 2027. It is 25 pages of balanced, well written information that ranges over assistive technology [a term used in its broad sense – compare with this post] including health- and care-related AT, and highlights various issues for society and emerging technology. You have to join the S2S mailing list to get it, but don’t let that put you off. Get it here.

Telecare and telehealth coming together in Norfolk (UK)

February 21, 2008 | by | 2 Comments

With a bit of editing and a slightly revamped commentary this video could become a useful introduction to telecare and telehealth for the public. However, people who know me will anticipate that I have a huge problem with Norfolk’s conflation of ‘assistive technology’ with telecare and telehealth, hence I’ve also categorised the video under ‘terminology’.

Let’s get this straight: ‘assistive technology’ is a very broad term for any equipment that helps compensate for some form of functional impairment. Or, as the Foundation for Assistive Technology (FAST) defines it, “Assistive Technology (AT) is any product or service designed to enable independence for disabled and older people.” A few shots at the beginning of the video imply that they understand this, but it soon slips into referring to the telecare and telehealth as AT. Although can be regarded as a subset of AT, there is no implication that AT has a remote component in any way, which is the key defining characteristic of telecare, telehealth, telemedicine, etc. When I was contracted to work at the Department of Health I frequently reminded civil servants and Ministers not to refer to telecare as ‘assistive technology’ and I thought that eventually the message did get through. At least by the time the Preventative Technology Grant conditions were published. And now it raises its head again…

OK, rant over! My thanks to Saneth Wijayaratna of Telemedcare Ltd for alerting me to the 7 minute video.

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ukJMscqLak]

 

Scotty Group equips Holland’s biggest telehealth project (+ video)

November 14, 2006 | by

According to this British Journal of Healthcare Computing article, Scotty Group plc made an initial delivery of equipment to Dutch telecoms provider KPN in October, as part of a €1.5m telehealth deal with KPN signed in July.

See a seven-and-a-half minute video of the Scotty Dutch project on the Home Telehealth Ltd. website. Navigate from the home page to videos and ‘CareStation – TV based homehealthcare’. There are also two other video clips of Scotty video telehealth solutions in operation. Peter Range, of Home Telehealth says ‘As one of Scotty’s largest telehealth partners in the UK, we would be pleased to assist any of your readers who may have an interest in this telecare/telehealth solution. Also for the record, Joop Wallenburg, presented this video last Wednesday at the TSA conference in Cardiff, but in Dutch, so any TSA delegates who now want to see it in English can now do so.’