rural dementia

Excited to see this in the Telegraph as we (Rose Regeneration) are helping with evaluation of the pilot. I think it will make a huge difference in rural areas. The article tells us:

A controversial monitoring system aiming to cut care bills by allowing family members to keep elderly relatives under surveillance at all times is to be sold in Britain for the first time.

It costs users £2,860 a year and, in connection with a range of “smart” household devices, can track a person’s exact whereabouts as well as check whether they have stocked their fridge, taken their medicine, or whether they are watching TV or using other appliances.

It can also tell “remote carers” whether the person is standing up or lying down, and transmit details of their pulse.

While traditional monitoring systems, such as Age UK’s personal alarm service, already offer a responsive service if something goes wrong, this new technology – called “Grandcare” – goes much further.

It comes as families and councils are under pressure to cut the mounting costs of care.

Care home fees are rising in some cases by more than 10pc a year. The cost of drop-in carers helping vulnerable people in their own homes is also mounting.

The previous government’s promise of a cap on care costs, which would limit spending to £72,000, has been delayed.

In the meantime, anyone with more than £23,250 in assets, including a home, is liable to pay their own fees.

Some families are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on care, with homes continuing to be sold to meet the bills.

“Grandcare”, marketed by Atel, presents itself as a possible solution to this problem. It is in use in America and is being trialled in Britain. It is expected to be available to families here by February.

A central interface, like a computer screen, receives and processes data from sensors in the elderly person’s home and on their person. Relatives can then check up on the person’s health, whereabouts and wellbeing via their own mobile phone or tablet.

A “tag” – an electronic device which adheres to the person’s arm or ankle – allows the remote carer to check the person’s pulse and whether they are upright.

This article tells us – Dementia is a growing health problem, with an anticipated increase in the number of cases of 156 per cent between now and 2051, according to statistics from the Alzheimer’s Society. This equates to two million people, and the burden will fall on rural areas where there are significantly higher proportions of elderly people.

“Farming, Dementia and Networks of Care” is the first project of its kind to focus specifically on farming communities and dementia.

Funded by the Seale Hayne Educational Trust, the project will be carried out by Dr Richard Yarwood and Dr Claire Kelly from the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences. They will be guided by a steering group including Joanne Jones from the Farming Community Network and chaired by Ian Sherriff, Academic Partnership Lead for Dementia at Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry.

The project, which will begin as a pilot in Devon, will investigate how farmers, their families and carers cope when they are affected by dementia. There are three main objectives – to consider the impact of dementia on farming businesses; to evaluate how dementia affects farming families and communities, and; to consider how voluntary and state agencies can support farming families with dementia.

Dr Yarwood commented: “This project is a starting point and we hope that it will be useful to care agencies and provide support for farming families affected by dementia. We will be making our key findings public and we hope in turn that this will lead to a wider understanding of dementia in rural places. We plan to build on this small-scale project to develop applications for future research into the care of those with dementia in the countryside.”

Ian Sherriff, who is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Task and Finish Group on Rural Dementia, added: “As someone who is totally committed to helping society tackle the many challenges that people with dementia and their carers face daily, I am really excited about the news that Plymouth University has been awarded research funding”.