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New Portable Telecare Solution Enables Greater Flexibility for Support Staff Helping Deliver Higher Quality Care
CareAssist from Tunstall enables timely and appropriate intervention for people with learning disabilities, enhancing independence and carers' peace of mind.
CareAssist, the latest telecare solution from leading provider of telecare and telehealth solutions Tunstall Healthcare, is enabling onsite carers to deliver high quality, non intrusive care to those with learning disabilities and long-term needs, supporting well-being and providing peace of mind for carers and those they care for.
CareAssist is a portable easy to use telecare solution that enables carers living or working in care environments to receive instant alerts from Tunstall's full range of telecare sensors. It informs carers of the nature of the alert as well as the location and/or name of the person requiring assistance. As a result, carers can be quickly made aware of any incidents which allows them to provide a high level of care; this makes it ideal for use in specialist dementia care, intermediate care, learning disability, respite care, residential and care home facilities.
CareAssist is being used by Hft, a national charity that supports people with learning disabilities, to provide immediate intervention to the people they support in both registered care and supported living environments.
Many of Hft's night time staff traditionally carry out hourly checks on people throughout the night to ensure there are no issues. The charity wanted a solution that would rapidly alert staff with full details of any incident, enabling them to respond quickly and effectively to those needing assistance whilst giving the person more privacy and independence.
Emma Nichols, Personalised Technology Project Manager for Hft, said: "CareAssist is brilliant. It instantly gives staff all the information they need to provide the right support for the people at the right time. In particular its portability allows a greater degree of flexibility for both staff and the people they are supporting; enabling staff to respond quickly to alerts from wherever they are whilst giving the people we support greater independence.
"CareAssist reduces risks and enhances safety, giving carers, the people they support and their families a greater sense of reassurance. Since deploying the solution we have had nothing but positive feedback from all concerned - staff in particular have commented that they have been very impressed with how quickly it responds to telecare alerts. Another key benefit is the privacy it gives people, for example people with epilepsy who would normally need to be checked regularly now no longer need hourly checks by staff at night, but now staff only respond when an alert is raised; this gives people greater dignity and independence."
Hft supports a lady who has night-time epilepsy. She was previously living in a large registered care home and had staff checking on her hourly throughout the night. Since deploying CareAssist she has been able to move into a smaller supported living home with just three other people and now no longer needs hourly checks. If she has a seizure her epilepsy sensor alerts the sleep-in member of staff via the CareAssist straight away, ensuring she receives the right support at the right time. This has given her more freedom, reassured her family and enabled her to move into a smaller, less institutionalised home giving her a greater sense of well-being and enhancing her quality of life.
Ali Rogan, Marketing Director at Tunstall, said: "Together with Tunstall's range of telecare sensors, CareAssist provides a unique solution which delivers a higher level of person-centred support. Its flexibility makes it an ideal solution for care staff, reducing the need for scheduled visits allowing people more privacy and freedom, whilst at the same time providing immediate intervention when a risk is identified."
Hft has 16 services across England and plans to deploy CareAssist to more of its services.
CareAssist provides a cost-effective telecare solution, as it does not require a telephone line or monitoring centre service. This makes it highly appropriate for full time, specialist dementia care, intermediate care, learning disability, respite care, residential and care home facilities. It can also provide significant benefits to private individuals and their informal carers who may prefer not to be connected to a 24-hour monitoring centre service.
The fully portable pocket-sized alarm has a radio range of up to 200 metres (line of sight) and is compatible with Tunstall's telecare range, including its smoke, flood and heat detectors, property exit sensor and bed/chair occupancy sensor. In addition the call history, including the time the alarm was received and the time it was answered, is held on the unit's memory and can be viewed on the screen or downloaded onto a PC for analysis.
For more information about CareAssist click here.
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