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Alzheimer’s Trial Case Study
Geonovo donate equipment and services to support a Dementia Services Development Centre Technology Trial in the South East of England
As a provider of telecare technology, Geonovo Limited were approached by Incom Limited, (a Geonovo Reseller, based in Maidstone in Kent) to assist in a telecare technology trial that was instigated by Dr Penny Hibberd, the Director of The Dementia Services Development Centre – South East.
The title of the project was called “Innovative Dementia Telecare”
In addition to Geonovo and Incom participating, there were a number of other very important parties, namely; Ellie Poitier, Alzheimer’s Society Group Facilitator; Mr & Mrs Reynolds and Mr & Mrs Oliver without whom the trials could not have taken place.
Geonovo were able to donate all of the necessary equipment and support services required to carry out the two week trial. This included:
- The provision of two Romad RSP-100 Personal Safety Phones
- Access to Geonovo’s Alarm Response Center (ARC) provider based in Plymouth
- Connection to the T Mobile/Orange network
- On site training provided to the trial users
The trial was monitored by the Dementia Services Development Centre and the Geonovo Customer Services Team.
The findings of the trial were published and made public at a presentation on the 8th September 2011, hosted by the Canterbury Christ Church University at their Centre for Enterprise and Business Development, Chatham, Kent.
Over 100 stakeholders attended the event to listen to the following five speakers:
- David Parry – South East Technology Alliance (SETHA)
- Mike Lauerman Chairman of Incom Limited
- Peter Lusty CEO of Geonovo Limited
- Ellie Potier - Manager for Home Support Service for Alzheimer's Society Kent and Medway
- Dr Penny Hibberd Dementia Services Development Centre South East (DSDCse)
Peter Lusty, CEO of Geonovo said “after reading the findings, we were greatly encouraged that our devices were not only helpful for this project, but the Romad RSP-100 is able to open a window of hope for many people with Alzheimer's”.
Shortly after the trial finished, Geonovo were contacted by Dr Penny Hibberd and informed them that both families wanted to acquire handsets for themselves because the devices had made such a significant impact on the lives of both the family’s and sufferers alike.
The ‘Innovative Dementia Telecare’ Project*
This twelve-week project was undertaken in partnership with ICOM Telesupport Ltd and the Dementia Services Development Centre South East (DSDCse) based at Canterbury Christ Church University and supported by a grant of £8,000 from the SEEDA Innovation Voucher scheme and a contribution from ICOM of £4,000.
The Partners
ICOM was founded in 1990 and began as a Telecoms Company which expanded into other areas such as: Cabling; Security; Network Services and Telecare.
The Dementia Services Development Centre South East (DSDCse) is a regional centre, based at Canterbury Christ Church University, which serves the counties of Kent, Sussex and Surrey and works in partnership with Avante Partnership and Dementia UK. The aim of the Centre is to support dementia services to plan, deliver and improve the quality of services for older people with dementia.
The Context
It is estimated that there are now 700,000 people with dementia in the UK. This is representative of one person in every 88 of the UK population (DH 2009). Dementia currently costs the UK economy £17 billion a year.
One of the most recent [policy] documents has been Living well with dementia: A National Dementia Strategy (DH 2009) which outlines 17 key objectives. Objective 10 calls for the consideration of the potential for housing support, housing related services and telecare to support people with dementia and their carers.
The Project
Part 1
This consisted of testing the use of biometric locks in a care home setting to see if they provided an enabling environment for residents. The testing took place in partnership with established customers/partners Avante Partnership who deliver residential care for people with dementia across South East London and Kent. The biometric locks were fitted in two care homes to establish if their use:
- Reduced the risk of a restrictive environment for people with dementia who were able to undertake activities without one to one supervision for example, walking in the garden, access to the kitchen and the bathroom.
- Reduced care worker anxiety about people accessing areas independently.
- Negated the need for the workforce to carry keys and/or memorise numerous door codes.
Part 2
This consisted of testing the use of the ‘Freedom ‘SOS’ Fone’ (designed and manufacturered by Geonovo Ltd) with people with dementia who live independently or who live with a family carer. The device is able to point by GPS and make SOS contact with carers and/or emergency services; aiming to reduce the anxiety of family members and professionals that the person with dementia will become lost or be unable to make a contact in case of emergency.
The expected results and benefits were:
- Reducing the risk of injury and/or loss of the person with dementia
- Enabling an independent lifestyle for the person with dementia
- Enabling person-centred care in a care home environment
Outcomes:
Findings
The project ran over a twelve week period which allowed for only two weeks of trials.
Bio-metric locks (extract)
[findings suggest that] the use of bio-metric locks in an internal space should be permanent so that the person has time to learn how to use it before their symptoms progress to the mid to later stages of dementia.
The care staff indicated that the use of bio-metric locks negates the need for multiple keys.
The timeline for the project was too short for the resident to be able to properly trial the use of the bio-metric lock.
Recommendations for a future trial would be to fit bio-metric locks to the external doors of a care home (the front door was indicated by the care staff) and to the front door of people who are living in the community.
Freedom SOS ‘fone’ (extract)
- Both participants felt that this device has the potential to aid independence and support the psychological well being of people with dementia who are in the early stages of the illness.
- Both carers felt that there is also an application for carer use because of the emergency call centre link and ease of use.
- Both couples felt the GPS feature was invaluable in raising confidence and feeling safe.
- Both couples reported feelings of increased confidence in the person with dementia going out alone and the wife’s confidence in being able to locate them easily.
- The ease of being able to ‘phone home’, the call centre or a family member/friend were all highly commended as being psychologically reassuring.
- Both participants felt the thought and concept of the device was excellent and would be keen to use one permanently.
- The training would require refining for this client group. An easy read guide to use with a follow up one-to-one training session would address the need for reinforcing new learning.
The legacy
The findings were mapped against Living well with dementia: A National Dementia Strategy (DH 2009) and recommendations made.
The project findings were shared with an audience of 104 stakeholders at the Medway campus of Canterbury Christ Church University on 8 September 2011. A subsequent meeting of interested parties is scheduled with the aim of identifying ways of taking the existing work, and partnerships, forward.
Recommendations
We would recommend the continuation of the Innovation Voucher scheme as it provides a route to engagement with the business community that is focused on finding shared solutions to real-life problems/issues. The scheme also serves as a building block to develop transformative partnerships and provide case studies to demonstrate the wide ranging socio-economic benefits of research and knowledge exchange within the communities we serve.
* This Case Study is extracted from the full report: ‘Innovative Dementia Telecare’ Final Project Report, July 2011, Dr Penny Hibberd, Director Dementia Services Development Centre South East.
E: penny.hibberd@canterbury.ac.uk
T: 01227 782602
