[A version of this item appears in: Dementia: the Latest Evidence Newsletter (RWHT), Volume 2 Issue 7, February 2012].
Summary
Three million lives could be improved across England by using new high-tech healthcare. After seeing the technology in practice in Cornwall on January 3rd 2012, Care Services Minister Paul Burstow decided it should be made available to more people with long-term conditions (such as dementia).
Over the next five years the Department of Health will work with industry, the NHS, social care and professional organisations to bring the benefits of assistive technology including telehealth and telecare to millions of people with long-term conditions. Telehealth and telecare use IT equipment and networks to monitor vital health signs such as pulse, weight, respiration and blood oxygen levels, which can be read remotely by health professionals. This means people can stay in their own homes safely with the reassurance that a doctor or nurse will be alerted should problems arise.
Read more: News: NDS.
