Update on Health+Care 2013 pre-event

As reported previously, on Tuesday 14 May, the organisers of Health+Care 2013 held a pre-event telecare/telehealth exhibition called The Home Care House of the Future hosted by Circle Housing Group at one of its newest Circle Living shared ownership flats in London. Thanks to the organisers and exhibitors, we can now post the following 3½ minute video and additional information provided by the exhibitors.

[This video is no longer available on this site but may be findable via an internet search]

The Home Care House of the Future event demonstrated technologies that can help people live independently in their own homes, showcasing new products developed through Invicta Telecare. Invicta works in partnership with other manufacturers and retailers to integrate their devices into its UMO monitoring platform.

Some of the products showcased included the world’s first connected operational defibrillator The DOCUK which connects to an operator and, once triggered, provides a GPS signal so that emergency services can be deployed immediately.

Also, on show from Geonovo was livewire, the UK’s first digital platform for telecare. Talk Talk actively checks lines, routers and end devices for any faults so that it can give users peace of mind that all devices are connected and working.

Other products on display were:

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/pivotell-advance-may13.jpg” thumb_width=”NaN” /]The Pivotell Advance, Pivotell’s newest automatic pill dispenser which incorporates new security and display features designed to help users take their medication correctly and prevent the possibility of them taking two doses too close together. It can be fully telecare enabled or used as a stand-alone device. Additionally, the Pivotell Advance GSM dispenser sends SMS and e-mail alert messages to up to three family members or carers if, for example, a dose has not been taken on time.

HomeTouch, which offers special tablet and web applications to enable older people to become less isolated, more active and less dependent. It also provides families or care providers with productivity, monitoring and communication tools to support care anywhere at all times. Basic package features include messaging, videocall, photo sharing, calendar/reminders, assistance calls/notifications, video library and web radio. Customer service and technical support is included in the monthly subscription. (HomeTouch won the Best Company Award at Europe’s Ambient Assisted Living Summit, Bilbao June 2012 and its developers were one of only 7 teams (from more than 200 applications across 20 countries) admitted to the Healthbox Europe accelerator programme.)

CACI demonstrated its OfficeBase Care and Support Management software which is designed to manage all the information, people and processes necessary to deliver a wide portfolio of care and support services efficiently, including scheduling, HR and finance functions. They also showed inTOUCH (see video), which was co-developed with Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. It delivers dynamic rosters to carer’s smartphones and returns electronically verified timesheets by logging NFC tags at visited homes. Working with CACI’s OfficeBase, inTOUCH meets the needs of a field-based workforce, eliminates paper-based processes and helps care providers capture outcomes at the point of care, thus reducing administrative costs and improving operational communications resulting in significant cost savings.

O2‘s recently launched Health at Home system was also demonstrated. It is described as a complete telehealth service that includes secure software for healthcare professionals (HCPs) to monitor their patient’s health remotely and a range of everyday mobile devices that patients use to monitor their symptoms. As well as relevant smart monitoring devices including pulse oximeters, weight scales and blood pressure monitors, patients are given a mobile network-connected tablet that is pre-loaded with the Health at Home software. The information is sent to the O2 Health server from the tablet with one touch of a button. HCPs sign into a secure website where they can monitor the readings and take action if appropriate. HCPs can also set up bespoke symptom surveys, message patients, and provide educational video content and information.

Halliday James Ltd showed its new EASE location system. EASE addresses the practical problems that other GPS devices have when used with people with more advanced dementia. The EASE bracelet is small, comfortable to wear, fully waterproof and has a long battery life – weeks rather than the days. The EASE Travel Companion is a portable device that can be taken to other locations, such as a day centre and monitors the proximity of the bracelet and alerts the carer if the person wearing it wanders off. If they are not reunited within a few minutes, the EASE Bracelet contacts the St Bernard Service and sends an alert with its position determined by GPS. The ability of the St Bernard Service to display activity can be useful to indicate different aspects of wellbeing. Has the user been for their usual walk to the shops today or have they been active at night and sleeping during the day? Carers can see with a glance on The St Bernard Location web site whether all is well.

UPDATE 13 June 2013: The Guardian now has an extended version of the pre-event video (4 minutes) that demonstrates some of the technologies more thoroughly. How technology can be used in health and social care. Hat tip to Mike Clark.