The UK’s Secretary of State for Health may know more about telecare than you might guess. According to a report by Care Directions concerning the launch of the AT Dementia website Patricia Hewitt ‘extolled the virtues of the new technology introductions… She contrasted this with the time some years’ ago when, as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, she had met the Tunstall CEO, who was finding great frustration in not being able to work with the NHS. “Well, now this has all changed dramatically,”… She went on to relate her own experiences with her constituents and, indeed, her mother age 91 and father who is approaching 90. “They want to stay at home – and it is so much better for them. We need to give vulnerable people access to and understanding of the full range of assistive technology, to help them do so… In an ageing population, something extraordinary is possible with telecare – something that will change the quality of life for dementia sufferers, their families and carers.”‘
We also know that since the time the Treasury concocted the Preventative Technology Grant, has also been interested in the topic and this may well extend up to Gordon Brown, who will be the UK’s next Prime Minister.
Read AT Dementia’s report of their launch.
As the above story was brought to us by Care Directions and I frequently recommend them as a good source of information for older people I looked forward to reviewing its new ‘All About Telecare’ web page. However, it is not an overall view of the wide range of telecare available but a listing of Tunstall products.
Care Directions has long felt and widely lobbied the critical need for potential users and their caregivers to be fully informed of Telecare capabilities, access and potential – in user-friendly, easy-to-understand language and format. We are grateful to Tunstall for making it possible to start the comprehensine process of end user communication.