Joyce's Story
"It's helped everyone knowing that we can sleep easy."Joyce had become increasingly confused about lots of issues but none of her family thought it raised a safety concern, until she was admitted to hospital following a fall.
Whilst Joyce was in hospital it became apparent that she wondered around during the night. Her husband, Bob admitted she did this at home too and he wasn’t sleeping very well as he was worried she might become disorientated and fall down the stairs.
Their family suggested moving to a bungalow, but neither of them wanted that, so a nurse at the hospital recommended TECS might help them. The nurse directed their family to the NRS website where they ordered some property exit sensors, a bed sensor mat and a fall detector.
Although her health has deteriorated and Joyce now has a carer for most of the day, the TECS has allowed her to continue living with Bob in their own home. Bob can still get a good night sleep knowing he’ll be alerted if Joyce gets out of bed for too long or tries to go outside the house.
Joyce's granddaughter, Lauren said “At least grandma can still be at home. If she didn’t have the sensors and the fall button she would have had to go into a care home. She’s much happier at home and if she’s happy, we’re happy”.
Alan's Story
"It's made my life so much easier."Alan lives alone and has recently been diagnosed with vascular dementia, which often causes him to forget to take his medication and sometimes he becomes disorientated and falls when he gets up in the night. His daughter was very worried about the risks associated with Alan continuing to live in his own home.
An NRS Healthcare Occupational Therapist visited Alan and recommended some equipment which would remind him to take his medication, and to eat and drink throughout the day. To help with his disorientation, the Occupational Therapist suggested fitting some movement activated lights which would come on when Alan got out of bed. Alan has been living with the equipment for 5 months and has become much more independent as he’s not relying on anyone else to remind his to take his medication and he’s not fallen.
Alan has said “the equipment you’ve installed has made my life so much easier” and his daughter added “it’s reduced the worry for both of us and has allowed dad to continue living at home without the need for formal care”.
Bernard - Dementia Memo Minder Door Sensor
TECS solution repaired the relationship of father and son and increased safetyBernard lives with his son, who is his main carer. Due to dementia, Bernard has begun wandering from his home and is not listening to his son when he says to not go out. As a result, their relationship is suffering as Bernard’s son felt ignored and was frustrated that his father might end up getting hurt. His feelings were intensified as they lived together and as he did not feel comfortable leaving his father and he rarely got a break.
Following an in-depth assessment where we understood the key risks and issues, we provide a tailored Technology Enabled Care solution, including a Care Assist Pager, a Door Sensor, and a Memo Minder. This equipment meant that Bernard could raise an alert if he needed help or became lost, his son would be made aware if Bernard tried to leave the house and could remind Bernard to stay inside through playing a pre-recorded message.
As a result of our bespoke solution, Bernard has now stopped wandering as he listens to the Memo Minder messages and his son is far more relaxed and less ‘on edge’ about frequent alerts or instances where his father could become hurt. Removing the main issues which caused friction has meant their father/son relationships is far ‘better than it has been for years’ and they are both ‘extremely happy’ with the improvements the equipment has made.
VF - dementia - lifeline fall detector rosebud
TECS solution increases the wellbeing of informal carer and best ensures service user safetyMrs F has been diagnosed with Dementia and as a result her son lives with her to act as a 24-hour carer. Mrs F has no awareness of time and gets up at various times in the night wandering and leaving taps on. This leads to her son not being able to sleep as he is constantly listening out for signs of movement. Due to these stresses of carrying out his caring role as well as not being able to go out and leave his Mum for fear she will hurt herself Mrs F’s son is at risk for Carer breakdown.
Following an in-depth assessment where we understood the key risks and issues, we provide a tailored Technology Enabled Care solution, including a Care Assist Pager, a Door Sensor, and a Memo Minder. This equipment meant that Bernard could raise an alert if he needed help or became lost, his son would be made aware if Bernard tried to leave the house and could remind Bernard to stay inside through playing a pre-recorded message.
To prevent burnout which would lead to reliance on direct support from Care Workers or considering moving Mrs F into a Care Home as well as increasing the son’s health and wellbeing, NRS offered a tailored Technology Enables Care solution. Following an in-depth assessment to ascertain key issues, our solution was to install a Lifeline and a Vibby Fall Detector, a Rosebud Clock and Floor Detectors. Together, this equipment would ensure Mrs F could get help if she needed it, alert a response centre if she fell, remind/prompt Mrs F to do daily tasks and better understand the time of day. Her son would also get alerted when Mrs F got out of bed at night.
As a result of our tailored solution, Mrs F’s son was able to leave the house for short periods of time with the peace of mind that she could call for help if needed. He also was sleeping much better as the floor detectors decreased his anxiety around his mum’s late-night wandering – which also reduced due to the Rosebud clock being in Mrs F’s bedroom.