Author Archives: wendy
How Smart Tech Will Take Care of Grandma
Motion sensors watch an elderly man’s movement around his home
By Kiona Smith-Strickland
Lena Almquist, a Giraff robot and Malin Nilsson at the 4th Annual Elderly Festival in Örebro Sweden.
Giraffplus
February 4, 2014 12:30 PM
Motion sensors watch an elderly man’s movement around his home, looking for stumbles or extended stillness that could mean a fall or a medical emergency. Smart appliances look for changes in a woman’s routine and alert caregivers to possible distress. An automated home-safety assistant offers an Alzheimer’s patient a gentle reminder to turn off the stove before he walks away.
The great hope for senior care is that smart technology will provide an assist that helps older people live independently and stay in their homes rather than have to move to an assisted living center or nursing home. The question is, what shape will that assistance take? Out-of-the-way, non-intrusive sensors? Or actual robots, like the happy little helper in Robot & Frank? Some tech companies have already begun to design systems of both kinds.
Smart Home in a Box?
At Washington State University (WSU), computer science professor Diane Cook and psychology professor Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe have developed what they call a smart home in a box. Wall-mounted sensors monitor a person’s movement around the home, while other sensors track the status of water faucets, stovetops, and other appliances. An automated system can speak up and remind the resident to turn off the stove or alert him or her to other home safety concerns.
Mental health patients ‘failed’ says report on Hellesdon Hospital
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) report said improvements were needed
A Norfolk hospital which looks after people with mental health problems is failing to meet expected levels of care, according to a report.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) report on Hellesdon Hospital said improvements were needed.
It said patients’ needs were “not always assessed in a timely way” and many care plans were out of date.
The Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said it was addressing concerns.
The CQC also found that risk assessments were often incomplete, and that one patient inspectors talked to did not know he had been detained under the Mental Health Act.
Personal Independence Payments: a failing system is trapping disabled people without benefits
Bills still have to be paid and food still has to be bought.
By Frances Ryan Published 17 February 2014 13:34
Since the new Personal Independence Payments began to replace Disability Living Allowance, fewer than one in six people who applied have had their claims decided. While assessments drag out over months, bills still have to be paid and food still has to be bought.
While waiting for their claim to be decided, people are losing out on vital support.
Paul Richardson* has just got off the phone with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It was another phone call trying to check on the progress of his daughter Jennifer’s application for the new disability benefit, the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), but it was another conversation that got them nowhere.
Jennifer has borderline personality disorder and has made two suicide attempts since she left school. She’s now 22 and this year moved back to live with her parents. She finds it difficult to talk to strangers and her mum and dad have been dealing with the PIP process as much as they can on her behalf. The process has been difficult from the offset when they had their first meeting at home in November.
