 Hi-tech future for
health and telecare
Broadband is at the heart of diversity and is already enabling
‘e-monitoring’ of people with asthma and diabetes in the home as well as
helping the elderly stay independent
Telecare and telemedicine services are increasingly being seen as a
potential solution to one of society’s most pressing healthcare issues, that
of long-term care of elderly or vulnerable people. BT’s broadband telecare
proposition is simple and compelling: it can help support continued secure
and independent living whilst preserving quality of life at a reduced cost
of care to individuals and society. To achieve this BT has been looking at
ways of using broadband to improve the delivery of healthcare services.
BT has a series of projects underway that explore ways of using broadband
and other new technologies to enhance the current range of healthcare
services and offer remote health monitoring. In particular, it has been
working closely with a number of partners to look at ways of using
technology to improve quality of life for the elderly and those with chronic
conditions to help them stay independent longer.
One project involves placing a number of unobtrusive wireless sensors in
key locations throughout the home, such as the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom
and living room. These sensors monitor movement within the home, room
temperature, chair occupancy, use of certain facilities and the status of
external doors and windows. The sensors communicate with an intelligent
'in-home' unit that processes the information and alerts the person in the
home if there is a cause for concern, should no response be received the
system then sends an alarm to a call centre. This technology enables older
people to feel safer in the knowledge that help is close at hand.
Caroline Waters, director of people networks, BT Group, said: “Broadband
has great potential in the healthcare sector; with sensory devices around
the home able to collect continuous and comprehensive data on the well being
of an individual, the telecare approach won’t just be a passive monitor, by
recognising the living patterns of 'at risk' people it will enable
preventative care.
“Far from seeking to control people's lives technology enriches life by
letting individuals live as independently as possible. Commercially,
broadband has huge potential for healthcare companies, which is why, as a
leading-edge communications technology business, BT is at the forefront of
researching, developing and assessing exactly where new technology is taking
us."
One of the aims of this work is to assist human carers to deliver care to
where it is most required and at the most appropriate time. An example of
this is an initiative between BT and Glasgow City Council to give its
home-care rapid-response teams access to emails on the move, saving time and
increasing the number of daily homecare visits that they make. This has been
made possible by giving them all a Blackberry mobile email device.
Other projects include using broadband to help disabled teenagers conduct
video telephony calls between friends and support workers in order to create
a virtual meeting place for people who spend a large proportion of their day
alone. Through the connection, they have the option to take on the identity
of a cartoon character, and to communicate through a speech bubble, which is
particularly useful to participants with speech difficulties. The system
also provides a facility for home shopping via a connection to a local
supermarket.
BT is also working with iMetrikus, a US-based healthcare technology
company to look at the benefits of broadband connections between those
monitoring a chronic condition and the health professionals who care for
them. The company’s MediCompass system is used in monitoring diabetes,
asthma, pulmonary disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and
HIV/AIDS. MediCompass system employs the highest standards for
healthcare-related websites as accredited by URAC (Utilization Review
Accreditation Commission) and for privacy and security as accredited by HON
(Health on the Net Foundation).
Matt Sanders, Chief Executive of Carlsbad, California based iMetrikus
Inc, said: “Combining our expertise in patient and caregiver connectivity
and remote patient monitoring with BT’s commitment to optimise individual
health status through the application of broadband technology, we believe
provides a wholly unique approach to address the chronic-care challenge.
"We deploy real state-of- the-art technology aimed at helping, supporting
and improving the quality of life for individuals who suffer from a range of
illnesses. But what we don't want to do is make them feel as if they're
under attack from technology. Our health monitoring systems are aimed at
giving people peace of mind."
Paul Garner, director of BT’s care in the community virtual research
centre at BT Exact, BT's research, technology and IT operations businesses,
said: “With the wider adoption of broadband we will have more chance of
solving a number of problems that result from poor health and an ageing
society. We're moving towards a future where we will have hundreds of
devices around our homes or other environments, which are able to sense
things, or carry out computational processing and also communicate with
other devices. This could have a huge impact on health issues and
independent living so we will continue to undertake extensive research and
trials to assess how communications technology will benefit the health and
telecare sectors."
For more information, visit www.bt.com
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