The homes of elderly and dependent people who live in the Community of Madrid are being renewed with the new advanced telecare equipment. The devices allow detailed monitoring throughout the day and detect if any problem occurs, analyzing each person’s routine. With the new devices, it is possible to act sooner when a fall, a diabetic coma or other types of mishaps occur.
“These people They will always feel accompanied thanks to the individualized attention from professionals who work 24 hours a day”, he indicated the Minister of Family, Youth and Social Affairs, Ana Dávila, this Monday during his visit to the switchboard where calls are answered. The new equipment consists of fire detectors, fall detectors, watches with geolocation, motion detectors or medication dispensers.
With these advances that are introduced into homes, in addition to the usual telephone monitoring or the alarm button, The devices allow for greater control. With motion sensors, detectors in the refrigerator (which record openings and closings with magnetic sensors) or the drug dispenser, the daily activity of each person can be monitored. In this way, out-of-routine behavior can be detected and operators can contact the person to see if everything is okay or send an emergency unit if you cannot locate it.
For example, if someone usually gets up at 8:00 a.m. or opens the refrigerator a number of times a day, you can detect when atypical behavior occurs which may be related to some adverse circumstance, such as a diabetic coma. In this way, it can also be controlled whether a person takes their medication as prescribed. The tracking data is recorded in a new platform that allows these patterns to be detected or this information used so that technicians can know what needs another individual who is in a similar situation will require.
Since August, the Ministry has been renewing the equipment and has already replaced 75%, installing them in 60,000 homes. The goal set is to distribute some 400,000 devices to 75,000 homes. Citizens who have this benefit recognized should not request the replacement of the equipment, since this will be done automatically if the user wishes. The Ministry clarifies that in new requests, the request for telecare will be resolved “directly” in the individual assessment.
The equipment will be adapted to the needs of each person so that they can continue living at home without having to move to a residence. With this technology and the home calling service, the problem of unwanted loneliness is addressed. “In addition to the qualified care, affection and closeness it provides to family members in a situation of dependency with little social activity. For them it is a relief, they tell you that they have celebrated their birthday with their grandchildren, they offer very humanized care,” he said. detailed Dávila.
In addition to these technological advances, the service includes permanent assistance from the team of professionals. To this end, the measure contemplates having one mobile unit for every 400 users to provide home assistance in emergency cases. The General Directorate of Care for the Elderly and Dependency will be in charge of managing this service, which will have 450 professionals, including occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nurses and psychologists, who will remotely attend to any incident that arises, and will also make home visits.