News
The "Enabling You With Technology" Project
Will Jones, November 2022
Continuing from September & Octobers news post, in regards to Surrey County Council’s "Enabling You With Technology" project. Here are 2 more case studies, demonstrating how the Connected Care system has smoothly worked alongside an individual's care plan, helping to highlight where additional support can be added to enable them to live at independently at home.
Sam’s Story: Supporting independence at home
Sam has a history of falls and UTIs. After his most recent fall he was discharged from hospital into a care home on D2A.
At the D2A assessment Sam said he wanted to go back home and be with his dog. Sam has full capacity and agreed to explore technology options that could support him to maintain his independence safely at home. There were concerns that the stairs in Sam’s property would increase his risk of falls. To reduce this risk, Sam agreed to set up a micro-living environment in his home and was supported to go home with 4 care calls per day and motion sensors. Within two weeks, Sam was at home and celebrated his birthday with family and dog.
The motion sensors reassured everybody that Sam was not using the stairs and was managing safely at home. The sensors also showed a reduction in falls and trips to the toilet (indicative of UTIs) and this was this thought to be due to the care calls providing Sam with regular food and fluids.
The technology enabled Sam to maintain his independence in an environment he wanted, Sam has not had any falls since being at home and continues to manage safely with 4 care calls per day.
Rita’s story: evidenced based decisions
Rita was receiving 3 calls a day before going into hospital. Upon discharge, the hospital initially advised that Rita should return home with 24-hour care but with support from the Technology Enabled Care Team, it was agreed that it was safe for Rita to go home with 12-hours of care alongside smart plug and motion sensors. Rita has full capacity and was on board with this decision.
Rita’s family do not live close by and they had concerns about her being home alone with a high risk of falls. There were also pre-existing concerns that she would not be able to make herself drinks or take herself to the bathroom outside of care calls. The data showed this wasn’t the case, relieving the family’s anxiety as well as increasing Rita’s confidence.
The data helped to support the conversation with the family and enabled Rita to make her own decision about how and where she received her care - it was felt that the family may have encouraged Rita to consider a placement in residential care.
The "Enabling You With Technology" Project
Will Jones, October 2022
Carrying on from September's news post, here are 2 case studies from Surrey County Council’s "Enabling You With Technology" project. As you can see the data collected for our Connected Care system has played a big role ensuring the right sizing of each individual care plan.
Sarah’s Story: Right-sizing care
"Sarah’s family members and her care agency raised concerns that she wasn’t engaging with the care and her family felt that she required additional support at night. Sarah required a re-assessment, and sensors and smart plugs were installed in her home to support this process. The data showed day and night-time activity which gave an indication of what was needed going forward."
The data presented a clear picture of Sarah’s activity and was used to adjust her care and support to meet her increased needs to achieve the best outcome for Sarah, providing support at the appropriate time.
Danica’s Story: Baselining needs
"Danica is in her 80s and has been diagnosed with early dementia, she lives alone. 4 care calls a day alongside social calls were recommended to support her to establish a normal routine leading up to bedtime. Neighbours had been reporting that she was leaving her home at unusual times during the night. Sensors and smart plugs were installed in her home with her agreement because of the concerns raised about Danica’s ability to manage independently, which conflicted with her own view. The technology was an opportunity for Adult Social Care to gain an objective view of Danica’s life at home."
The data initially showed that Danica was unsettled during the night but not leaving the property. The technology also flagged that the door was only being opened twice during the day, even though she was expected to receive 4 care calls daily. As there were no other doors leading into the property, concerns about the care agency’s visits were raised and an investigation was initiated. With the planned support, (4 calls per day) in place, it has been possible to support Danica with her night-time routine. The plan is to keep the technology in place to enable Danica to remain in her own home in long as possible.
The "Enabling You With Technology" Project
Will Jones, September 2022
The Surrey County Council and Mole Valley District Council joint project "Enabling You With Technology" has won the Innovation and Improvement Award at the Surrey Downs Health and Care Partnership (SDHCP) inaugural Better Together awards.
Surrey Downs Health & Care Partnership (SDHCP) is a body consisting of the NHS, local government, community health services, voluntary sector and other providers.
This project supports people to stay at home living independently for longer by using hi-tech home monitoring systems including Cascade3d Connected Care. The new technology has improved the delivery of care across Surrey Downs. The success of the trial has led to this technology being rolled out across the whole of Surrey. Not only will this improve the quality of life by supporting people to stay at home for longer but it will also reduce system pressures.
A big congratulations to the team for winning this award, especially our colleagues at Mole Valley Life.
Read more about this project here
How to support nutrition and hydration using technology enabled care.
Will Jones, August 2022
Cascade Connected Care has recently been used as the centre of an residents care plan to great effect.
Concerns had been raised regarding this individual's nutritional intake and their ability to prepare regular meals. To work out what was going on, Connected Care sensors were deployed around the kitchen and on appliances such as the kettle and microwave.
After a couple of days of gathering movement data it was obvious to see the lack of any food preparation routine and regular meal times. This information then helped the local authority adult care services team to better understand the situation and then increase the individual’s support around their existing care visits. By understanding the situation better as successful outcome was gained for both the local authority and the resident who is able to continue living independently in their own home.
Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
Will Jones, July 2022
It’s great to see the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in full swing and in particular the diving and swimming events have been hosted in the new Sandwell Aquatics Centre. This state-of-the-art venue will host more medal events than any other venue. It has a competition pool, a temporary swimming and para swimming warm-up pool as well as a dry dive training area.
The Aquatics Centre will be reconfigured and open to the public in May 2023 with additional leisure facilities added and run by our Cascade3d Analytics customer Sandwell Leisure Trust. We can’t wait to see our software in use at such a prestigious venue and look forward to helping with any reports SLT may need to produce for this venue.
Cascade3d are excited to be working with the NHS in rural Monmouthshire as part of a new health monitoring project.
Will Jones, June 2022
The Usk and Raglan District Nurse Team will have at their disposal a number of Cascade3d Connected Care kits which include a range of wireless medical devices ready to use with rural patients with long term health conditions. The devices will allow the Nurse team to monitor patients vital signs such as blood pressure and blood sugar levels from their office in Usk rather than making some visits to outlying patients in their community. The system also included some Amazon Echo Show devices that can be used for Nurse to Patient video calling if either party would needs to discuss any changes in the health readings.
The project hopes to reduce some of the travel time for the Nurse team therefore freeing up a few additional hours for urgent appointments each week. For more information on this kind of project please contact us.
Half a million adults waiting for help in England
Will Jones, May 2022
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61413697
It’s a worry to see the demand for social care growing in England following a couple of tough years for society. We only understand too well the everyday pressure on our colleagues in adult social care, through the projects we are working on across the UK. At Cascade3d we are proud to be part of the growing TEC (Technology Enabled Care) sector that is looking to assist with the growing demand for quality care across the country. We firmly believe with the right balance of technology and amazing care workers this is a challenge we can all contribute towards. For more information on how Cascade3d Connected Care can help with improving the lives of elderly and vulnerable people please get in touch.
Cascade3d and Ostara launch Supported Living Project
Will Jones, April 2022
Cascade3d are delighted to be working with Ostara to deliver an innovative new project in one of their residential housing schemes. The project will use Cascade3d Connected Care’s system of IoT sensors and devices to add smart home technology to a number of existing bungalows managed by Your Homes Newcastle. The devices will be used to support residents in their daily living activities whilst providing the onsite care team with essential safety information throughout the day and night.
For more information on how the Cascade3d Connected Care system can assist in a residential care setting please get in touch.
Surrey County Council and Mole Valley Life are nominated for the ITEC Awards 2022
Will Jones, March 2022
We would like to congratulate our customers Surrey County Council and Mole Valley Life for being nominated for the prestigious ITEC Awards 2022 in the ‘Partnerships in TEC’ category.
Together they have delivered the ‘Enabling You With Technology’ project within a growing number of the local authority areas in Surrey County Council. Enabling You With Technology uses the Cascade3d Connected Care System to support elderly and vulnerable people in their own homes, working closely with the alarm receiving centre in Mole Valley to provide preventative and proactive care using the sensor data. The ITEC awards are presented at the TSA conference in March, best of luck to Surrey County Council and Mole Valley Life, both worthy finalists.
Have a look at this short inspirational film show casing the project:
Come and see us at the TSA Conference 2022 - Stand 28
Gerry Hodgson, March 2022
After two years of lockdown, we are delighted to be back at the TSA Conference at the ICC. Here is a lnk to the full programme and you can find details about our products and services that will be on show during the event.
If you are attending, please call by Stand 28 and say hello.
Best wishes
Gerry
