The Latest Technology That’s Driving Quality of Life in Dementia Care
With dementia care in residential care settings becoming increasingly important as diagnoses rise, Person Centred Software has launched a new ‘Who I Am’ feature as part of its electronic evidence of care and care planning system, Mobile Care Monitoring. The feature enables staff to provide a more responsive and personalised quality of dementia care and improve residents’ quality of life. The new feature enables care homes to share vital information about residents’ routines, life story and wishes from the care plan with carers via the mobile application. These personalised routines are vital when caring for those with dementia as it helps them to maintain their daily functions and minimise their anxiety. Benefits of the new feature are already being realised. The manager at a care home in Sussex reports that the ‘Who I Am’ feature helped a carer to know how to support a resident when they were anxious and upset; the carer saw on ‘Who I Am’ that reading a prayer would soothe them. Similarly, a care home in North Somerset said that when a resident went to hospital, staff were able to provide personalised care and support. A hospital nurse got in contact with the care home to say that it was the best information she had ever seen Jonathan Papworth, co-founder and director of Person Centred Software, says, “It became apparent to us that whilst administration software helps care providers’ efficiency, it doesn’t actually help those delivering care. Social care really only exists because of these people, so we decided to focus on improving the lives of the care staff users. With the new capability of ‘Who I Am’ at their fingertips, carers have all the information they need to further help and support their residents.” ‘Who I Am’ is modelled on Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘This is Me’ tool and other one-page profiles that are widely used in social care to improve the quality of information and ease of information sharing. Not only is information available on carers’ devices, but the hospital pack provided within Mobile Care Monitoring automatically collates the information from residents’ ‘Who I Am’ profiles to ensure staff fully understand residents at every stage of their health and social care journey. Person Centred Software’s ‘Who I Am’ software addition is electronic, so staff can access up-to-date information securely whenever they need it, even when offline. This instant access is particularly important for new and agency staff and supports NICE best practice guidelines on dementia care. In 2018, NICE updated their dementia guidelines for the first time in 10 years, “With diagnoses on the rise, and 1 million due to have dementia by 2021, all health and social care professionals must be properly equipped to support people with dementia at every stage.” With the addition of ‘Who I Am’, Mobile Care Monitoring further helps care providers comply with CQC’s Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOEs) to improve quality of life for the 69% of residents living with dementia in UK care homes. Notably the KLOEs C1.4 and R1.2, which ask, “Do staff know and respect the people they are caring for and supporting, including their preferences, personal histories, backgrounds and potential?” and “How does the service make sure that a person’s care plan fully reflects their physical, mental, emotional and social needs…?”. ‘Who I Am’ creates a holistic resident profile that gives staff immediate insight into how best to support residents. Read more here about dementia care technology
Inaugural #GladtoCare competition successfully brings the care sector together
Carers from across the UK were invited to take part in a photo competition run by Person Centred Software and The Care Workers Charity. Alice Taylor, the cook at Primrose Lodge Southbourne care home in Bournemouth, won a Haven holiday in the #GladtoCare competition. The winning entry features a photo of Alice cooking and her message: “I’m #GladtoCare making home cooked food daily for my residents and have been for seventeen years.” The esteemed panel of judges including David Brindle, the Guardian’s public services editor, Professor Martin Green, Chief Executive of Care England, Vic Rayner, Executive Director of the National Care Forum and Alex Ramamurthy, former-CEO of the Care Workers Charity, selected the winning entry. Vic Rayner says, “I really liked Alice’s entry as I felt that it gave you a real sense of pride, commitment and long-term career. Here is someone who has provided one of the key components of great care – good food – for seventeen years – and at the end of that time is not only still smiling – but is #GladtoCare – inspiring.” The #GladtoCare competition was designed to boost the profile of carers, who work extremely hard with very little public recognition. It aimed to show carers that they are appreciated and to raise their morale. Carers were invited to take a photo of themselves doing something that makes them ‘glad to care’, along with a message describing their photo. Person Centred Software received many entries from carers who were delighted to share their skills, creativity and dedication. The finalists can be viewed on Person Centred Software’s website at https://personcentredsoftware.com/gladtocare/ Primrose Lodge Southbourne, part of the Affinity Care Management group, has been using Person Centred Software’s Mobile Care Monitoring system to evidence care and support since January 2016.
Person Centred Software lead the call for better care in care homes
According to an article published in The Guardian on 25th November 2018, more than 1,000 care home patients have died suffering from malnutrition, dehydration or bedsores. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/25/care-home-patients-england-wales-malnutrition-dehydration-bedsores These figures are from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which completed an analysis of death certificates at the newspaper’s request. The ONS acknowledged that ‘it is possible that poor care may have been a factor in some of the deaths’. To many, this report is not a surprise. Person Centred Software, the developer of Mobile Care Monitoring, an intelligent mobile solution for evidencing care interactions, electronic care planning and reporting, is already working with UCL (University College London) to conduct a study into the impact of good care on life expectancy. Professor Laurence Lovat, leading the study, says, “The report by the Office of National Statistics may well underestimate the magnitude of the issue. There are many clues that a problem may be developing. Our research is looking at using big data analysis of routinely collected information by care home workers to identify patterns which predict development of malnutrition and dehydration. This will lead to simple early interventions to prevent this entirely avoidable cause of death in vulnerable care home residents.” One solution to this issue is to give residential social care providers the tools they need to provide the best quality of care possible. The Mobile Care Monitoring application is now used by over 900 care homes in the UK and enables staff to record care at the point of delivery using its icon-driven app. The information is then at the fingertips of carers to analyse and adjust care as necessary to ensure a responsive and person-centred approach. For instance, rather than guess what people have drunk and risk them being dehydrated, using Mobile Care Monitoring, staff can accurately and immediately evidence fluids they have offered, and residents have drunk. With access to precise evidence of care, fluids can be monitored, and risks are greatly reduced, not just to dehydration. One care home group found that by monitoring fluids using Mobile Care Monitoring, they were able to also reduce falls by 33%. Alison Redhead, Registered Manager at Minster Grange Care Home said, “A member of the care team requested that a resident was put on fluid watch as they were concerned that they weren’t drinking enough. The fact that this member of staff, rather than feel frustrated, knew that the system could support us shows just how invaluable the Mobile Care Monitoring system is.” 5% of care homes using Mobile Care Monitoring are rated Outstanding by CQC compared to 3% of care homes nationally, as stated in the original article. And it’s not just carers and care home managers that want and need confirmation that residents are cared for. Relatives can often be left isolated once a loved one has been placed in care. This is now solved with the secure Relatives Gateway portal, part of the Mobile Care Monitoring service. It enables friends and family of those in care to stay informed and in touch as well as share messages and photos. The system not only dispels families’ fears about care homes but keeps them much more connected to their family member’s new stage of life during the transition into care. The Relatives Gateway also gives value back to carers too, since it shows and recognises everything that they do, from major activities to the smallest acts of kindness. For more information about Mobile Care Monitoring please visit www.personcentredsoftware.com
