How technology can help improve care homes
We all know we live in the technology and digital age, but how open are you to technological advances within the care sector? If you want to bury your head in the sand and forget they’re happening – or even if you tolerate, but don’t welcome, them – it’s worth waking up to the fact that technology is becoming increasingly important within every-day operations and in delivering resident satisfaction within care homes. To help your care home thrive and maintain a competitive edge, it will pay to keep ahead of relevant technological advances to evaluate where it can add value for your residents, operations and staff – and potentially improve your bottom line.
Recently, there has been an influx of new gadgets and devices that have been specifically developed to be used by care home staff to help them support residents. While some of these are potentially of more interest to journalists in search of a good headline than care home providers and owners, there are tools that can help transform your care home into a more efficient, but also more compassionate, enterprise. I’m going to share some of my favourites with you, and explain how Fulcrum care Ltd have helped some of our clients introduce and adapt to new technologies to improve the management of their care home.
This is just the first of many articles that we’re going to be publishing this subject, as we know how important technology is in the care industry. Today, we thought we’d start with the very basics and outline the technology that is currently available for you to utilise within your care home. In the future, we’ll address some of the upcoming advances that should start making their way into care homes, and also the types of technology that we feel are missing in our industry.
The benefits of technology in care homes
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) strongly support the notion that technology will enhance resident lives.
“Technology is changing the way that people provide care and receive treatment. The benefits can be huge – for people who use services, families, carers and providers. But it’s important technology and innovation never come at the expense of high-quality, person-centred care.”
At Fulcrum Care, the new innovations we have implemented have allowed us to help care-home owners and providers:
- Help staff fulfil commitments: Technology can provide an insight into how staff can best prioritise care for residents.
- Enhance care plan provision: Technology can be useful in compiling lots of different data sets, from diverse sources, into one database. This data can then be used to pinpoint which services a person needs and how best to provide them.
- Improve data provision: Technology could help provide care home managers and operators with the data needed to make proactive decisions to ensure best possible care is delivered to residents.
- Provide residents with greater autonomy: Technology such as fall-monitoring tools could help provide your residents with greater independence and freedom, without you having to worry that they could be at risk when out of sight.
- Aid resident communication: Technology aimed at enabling non-verbal individuals to be able to communicate – which are already well utilised within the SEN (Special Education Needs) industry – could help provide a voice to the unheard.
A quick win: the iPad or tablet
During the Covid-19 pandemic, we have truly seen the difference that a simple piece of technology can provide. Since March last year, the lockdown situation in care homes has prevented family and friends from making their usual visits to loved ones. We understand the pain and suffering this has brought to many and so have ensured that our clients equipped their care homes with mobile communication devices such as iPads https://www.apple.com/uk/ipad/, allowing residents to keep sharing precious moments and stay in touch with their loved ones on screen.
There’s lots of software available, that’s easy to install and use, such as Zoom, Facetime and Skype
Introducing more specialised, and often more expensive, technology needs to be done with careful planning, considering the different options and how they might benefit your residents and management. In this article we try to highlight some of the more useful technologies we have seen.
Digital/electronic care planning and management systems
Migrating your administration to an electronic system will improve efficiency and provide greater security to your private data. One of Fulcrum Care’s consultants, Tina Stebbings, recently worked on a project for a provider to convert a ‘pen and paper’ method of data storage to a digital system. The feedback has been unanimously positive, allowing staff to spend more time with their residents and less time filling in forms.
Tina is a firm advocate for digital change: “One of the advantages of virtual care plan systems is their remote accessibility. As a care home owner, or provider, you have the reassurance that at any time you can find out the specific details of what is happening in your home, and how the residents are doing – you can get to know someone through their digital care plans.”
In another example, we recently supported a care home that was struggling to keep on top of its paperwork. Our consultant, Patricia Gooden-Husbands, spent a year introducing a care management system that helped optimise documentation, provide an accurate record and crucially, free up the time of staff, allowing them to focus on looking after, and engaging with, their residents.
In this instance, the governance framework was particularly useful, as it gave the manager effective oversight of the audit systems and alerted her to anything that was out of place, helping the company to comply with the legal requirements under Regulation 17: Good Governance.
Safety is paramount – fall-monitoring tools
Fall detection devices allow you to monitor your residents at all times. For residents who are more prone to occasional falls, they can be a life saver.
A fall monitor will alert you to a resident who may be in trouble, but they can also provide information on activity levels, sleep duration and toilet use.
Trish Kelly, a consultant at Fulcrum Care, believes this technology can help you develop your care home: “Logging accidents and incidents is particularly helpful to improving quality of care. Many homes which rely entirely on non-digital records lose track of them, meaning that they have no evidence to back-up their work or to analyse for trends. It is vital that you research and reflect on what combination of features and associated costs works best for you and your residents”.
A good night’s rest – sleep-monitoring devices
Sleep is restorative – essential in allowing your residents to rest and recover and having a positive effect on their physical and mental health. Sleep-monitoring devices will enable you to measure how much sleep they are getting and then establish a necessary plan to improve it, if required.
Online entertainment – books, films and music
For many residents, their entertainment has traditionally been provided by outside service providers: music groups, school visits, bingo, to name a few. During the coronavirus pandemic, these activities have largely been replaced by online resources that offer quality entertainment at an affordable price.
Streaming sites: Netflix and Amazon Prime allow the residents in your care home to pick exactly what they fancy watching, whether it’s a nature documentary or the latest blockbuster film.
- Audiobooks: Platforms like Audible let your residents choose a book from thousands of titles. They can simply sit back, relax and enjoy listening to someone read it to them.
- Music streaming: Spotify [https://www.spotify.com/uk/] and Apple Music [https://www.apple.com/uk/music/] aren’t just for the young ones! They also feature back catalogues from every era, so whether your residents want to jive or sing the blues, there’s something for everyone. The benefits of music to the elderly have been reported on by NHS England, who demonstrated that ‘music can trigger golden memories and benefit people with dementia’.
Proceed with a plan, clear objectives and caution
I hope I’ve demonstrated a range of positive benefits that technology could bring to your care home. However, I would like to conclude by expressing the need for caution. As the CQC have strongly stated, technology can never replace human interaction; only supplement and enhance it. Rechell Hernandez, our consultant, believes: “All digital/electronic systems are only as good as the person operating them. For example, an electronic care planning system relies on the nurse or staff member inputting the care plans being able to write a good care plan on paper. Only if the people using the system have the necessary skills, can they then get the best use of those system”
Similarly, if you choose to provide your residents with fall- or sleep-monitoring devices, it doesn’t mean that staff can be any less vigilant; you should still be ensuring every precaution is taken to prevent falls and that staff are always careful when supervising residents.
Like most things in life, there is a sensible balance that needs to be struck. At Fulcrum Care Ltd, we have seen technology prove to be central to ensuring providers meet their legal obligations, complying with regulations and being able to evidence positive responses to the CQC’s Key Lines of Enquiry https://www.cqc.org.uk/what-we-do/how-we-do-our-job/five-key-questions-we-ask.