Coronavirus has provoked a crisis disrupting every aspect of our society. Some people have been particularly affected, which is the case of the elderly and dependent people. Today, assistance services such as telecare during COVID have become essential. At Televes, we would like to offer high-quality solutions by means of our Carelife devices so the needs of vulnerable groups can be met in the best possible way.
Is telecare useful in times of COVID?
Over the past few years, telecare has become a great tool to help the elderly and dependent people. It has been very well accepted by its users, as they can benefit from more independence while being well cared for.
In the past, this service was intended to provide exceptional assistance if there was some kind of accident or unexpected situation at the user’s home. During lockdown, it became somewhat helpful for them to keep in touch with other people and to take care of not only their physical health, but also their emotional and psychological comfort. This is a great advantage if we keep in mind the results of research revealing that mental health has gotten worse among the elderly. As it is an individual service, follow-up has been adapted to the users’ personal needs.
This type of services is not limited to the household, as hospitals can also benefit from it. Monitoring brought by telecare services can be an excellent solution to deal with excessive workload at hospitals, allowing for better management of their resources so the professionals can focus on the areas where they are needed most.
Foreseeing potential issues
Anticipating to any incident that may arise is another essential aspect to be dealt with by telecare services. Many times, it seems like we are waiting for something wrong to happen. However, thanks to telecare innovations, expecting is a thing of the past.
Nowadays, good telecare services must include more tools than just a button to make phone calls. If they intend to reach high-quality standards, telecare systems should be made up of sensors monitoring the person’s activity so it can be later recorded. Thus, if an unusual event occurs, or if an activity that was supposed to happen does not take place, telecare services will immediately get protocols started.
All the available connectivity technology should be implemented as well. A great asset of today’s telecare services is that you can get information in real time about what is going on at home, while analyzing the recorded patterns on a person’s normal activities so you can consult them whenever you want. This will allow the authorized relative to check on that person immediately, at any time.
Another substantial advance is including alarms or alerts to prompt the user to do something, such as taking their medication.
Follow-up: an essential aspect for telecare services
Good telecare services must certainly include a follow-up program considering each user’s individual characteristics. Some factors like pathologies must be assessed in case further follow-up calls should be made.
During the state of alarm in Spain, people felt a greater urge to be up to date with the latest news and to be in touch with others. To address this kind of situations, the service must bear in mind that demand will go up and that qualified staff will be necessary. It has been widely proved that the users of this service needed to communicate and to talk to somebody. In these situations, it is essential to have a team that values empathetic training and knows how to deliver on those needs.
Identifying which users are more likely to be isolated and being able to keep them from feeling that way will be also key when developing and implementing telecare services during the pandemic.
It is no wonder that times have changed and that today there is a demand for services meeting needs in a comprehensive and sensitive way. Being able to identify those needs and to get ahead of them is vital to deliver a good service. Telecare systems such as Carelife have been able to adapt to these changes and to implement the necessary tools to meet all those demands.
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