Technology enable care offers a number of benefits. It provides a flexible and efficient way for people to manage their health and wellbeing at home, helping them to live safely and independently. It also has a wider role to play within our health, care and housing sectors, enabling a more efficient allocation of resources, among other things.
In this blog post, we look at the benefits of technology enabled care, both for the individuals relying on TEC services as well as the organisations involved in delivering vital support.
How technology enabled care benefits older people
TEC services are wide-ranging. These provide access to emergency help, allow proactive monitoring for a variety of health conditions and offer assistance with many aspects of daily living.
This means people can:
– Take charge of their own health and care, with the ability to control how and when they receive support.
– Receive customised care that involves them in decision-making and takes into account their specific requirements and preferences.
– Live more safely and independently, with the reassurance that help is available when they need it.
“Technology is just a means to an end… The end, in the words of the Care Act, is promoting the wellbeing of the individual. By focusing on the outcomes that matter to people, technology can be life enabling.”
Rt Hon Paul Burstow, President, Technology Enabled Care Services Association (TSA)
The benefits of technology enabled care in housing
Technology enabled care also offers significant operational advantages for housing providers and local authorities who want to:
Deliver person-centred care
TEC provides much more scope to tailor your services to individual customers – whether they require assistance with certain daily living activities or have a high level of dependencies.
Increase staff efficiency
Digital technology helps with day-to-day tasks: some elements can be automated, while areas such as general maintenance of systems can be dealt with remotely. This frees valuable time and means you can allocate resources where they are most needed.
Create better services
TEC services offer a wealth of helpful data at your fingertips that you can learn from. This information is invaluable for understanding how your customers are using your services and where you can improve your offering and ways of working.
Meet customer expectations
We’re all used to a certain level of technology as part of our daily lives and people are increasingly expecting to see this reflected in supported housing. Research highlights how the housing customer of the future will want technology to be part of their experience, providing more efficient, personalised and innovative services.
The role of digital
Many of the benefits of technology enabled care are driven by digital. This is a fast, reliable and powerful means of communication that:
– makes virtual consultations possible through the use of video
– enables real-time access to people’s records for the most up-to-date information
– allows co-ordination and collaboration between different services
– supports the customisation of care plans for a more person-centred approach.
This brings both opportunities and challenges for housing providers and local authorities. As digital technology evolves, it can be tricky to keep up with the pace of change – but this is more important than ever.
A recent review into how organisations are adopting digital technology enabled care found successful projects focused on digital transformation to address key operational challenges and co-produced services with people who had lived experience.
With the digital phone switchover on the horizon – and already impacting services that still rely on analogue equipment – it’s essential to invest in the right technology so you can ensure the safety of your services. Digital technology enabled care systems also make it easier to adapt to future requirements with flexible, scalable solutions.
Technology enabled care in supported housing
It’s clear technology enabled care is playing an increasingly important role within health, care and housing. Find out more in our blog post series about technology enabled care:
– What you need to know about technology enabled care
– Why technology enabled care services are important – and who they’re for
– 7 steps to better technology enabled care services
You can also take a look at our video series, Discussing Digital, which provides all the information you need to navigate the digital switchover smoothly.
Appello is here to help you develop effective TEC services. Our goal is to provide all the facts on the digital switch, so you can make decisions with confidence. Talk to us about your next steps for a pain-free transition to digital services.
