Telecare and Digital Monitoring | Providence Centered Care

What it is

What happens in the twenty two hours we are not there

A typical homecare package is two hours of the day across three or four visits. The worry that keeps families awake is about the other twenty two, and particularly the night.

Telecare is the equipment that covers that gap. A pendant or wrist alarm that raises help at the press of a button. Fall detectors that raise it without anybody pressing anything. Door sensors for somebody at risk of leaving the house confused at night. Bed and chair sensors. Smoke, heat and flood detectors. Medication dispensers that prompt at the right time and flag when a dose has not been taken.

The digital half is about information rather than equipment. Care here is recorded electronically at the point it happens rather than in a paper folder on the sideboard. Medication is signed for as it is given, so a missed dose is visible immediately rather than at the end of the month. Visit notes are written at the time. Family members given access can read them from wherever they are, which for a daughter two hundred miles away changes the entire experience of having a parent in care.

One thing we will not do is pretend this replaces people. Technology is very good at raising an alarm and completely incapable of making somebody a cup of tea or noticing that they seem low. Where it is sold as a cheaper alternative to visits, somebody is usually being short changed. We use it to extend care, not to substitute for it.

This is likely right if

Somebody lives alone and the risk is falls or not being found
A person becomes confused or unsettled at night
Family live at a distance and want to know how things are going
Medication is being missed or doubled between visits
A care package covers part of the day and the rest is the worry

Something else may fit better if

What is really needed is more contact with people, which no sensor provides
Somebody would not or could not use the equipment, where the answer is more support rather than more devices

In practice

What this looks like in a house

Chosen for the specific risk rather than installed as a bundle. Equipment that does not match the actual worry just gets switched off.

Personal alarms

A pendant or wrist button that raises help. Simple, and the single most useful device for somebody living alone.

Fall detection

Raises the alarm without anybody pressing anything, which matters because the falls that do the damage are the ones where the person cannot reach the button.

Door and movement sensors

For somebody who may leave the house at night confused. Alerts rather than locks, because locking somebody in is not care.

Environmental sensors

Smoke, heat and flood. A pan left on is one of the commonest serious risks for someone with memory problems.

Medication prompts

Dispensers that prompt at the right time and flag a dose that has not been taken, so it is caught the same day.

Records the family can read

Visit notes and medication records written electronically as they happen, readable by family members who have been given access.

The detail

What is included, and what is not

Set out plainly so there is nothing to discover later. Anything not listed here can still be discussed, and often arranged.

Included as standard

An assessment of the actual risks before anything is recommended
Electronic care records written at the point of care
Medication administration recorded as it happens
Family access to notes where the person consents to it
Alerts to the office when records show something has been missed
Review of whether the equipment is being used and is still the right equipment

Arranged separately

Supply and installation of hardware, which usually comes through the local authority telecare service
The twenty four hour alarm monitoring contract, which is a separate arrangement
Any monitoring the person has not consented to

Getting started

From first call to first visit

Telecare usually sits alongside a care package rather than standing on its own.

01

Talk about the worry

Not about devices. The right question is what specifically you are afraid will happen, and the equipment follows from that.

02

Risk assessment

We look at the house, the routine and the risk, and say plainly where technology helps and where it does not.

03

Setting it up

We work with the local authority telecare service where equipment comes through them, and set up records and family access ourselves.

04

Reviewing it

Equipment that nobody uses is worse than none, because it creates false reassurance. We check that it is actually working in practice.

Cost

How this is paid for

Many local authorities provide telecare equipment and monitoring at low cost or free following an assessment, and this is worth asking about before buying anything privately. Equipment can also be funded through a Direct Payment.

The electronic records, medication recording and family access are part of how we deliver care and are not charged separately.

Read the full guide to funding

Questions

What families ask us about this

Does this replace carer visits?

No, and we will not sell it that way. A sensor can raise an alarm. It cannot make a meal, notice that somebody seems low, or spot the early signs of an infection. We use technology to extend care between visits, not to reduce them.

Can family see the care records?

Yes, where the person consents. Family members given access can read visit notes and medication records. For relatives living at a distance this changes everything about how it feels.

What if a dose of medication is missed?

It shows immediately rather than at the end of the month, because it is recorded at the point of administration. Missed doses are followed up the same day.

Who provides the equipment?

Usually the local authority telecare service, often at low cost or free after an assessment. Ask them before buying anything privately. We work alongside whatever is in place.

Is this monitoring somebody without their knowledge?

No. Anything we put in place is discussed and consented to. Monitoring somebody who has not agreed to it is not something we will set up, whoever is asking.

What if they will not wear the pendant?

Extremely common. That is a reason to reassess rather than to keep insisting. Sometimes a different device works, sometimes the honest answer is that more human contact is what is needed.

Also worth reading

Services that often go together

Homecare and Personal Care

Support in your own home, from half an hour a day to round the clock, built around the way you already live.

Worried about the hours nobody is there?

Tell us what you are actually afraid will happen. The right answer is sometimes equipment, sometimes another visit, and we will say which.

Make a referral Talk to someone first

Emergency placements are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.