Tech-enabled digital telecare
For years, telecare has been something of a cottage industry, almost exclusively tending to the needs of the elderly population at home, via legacy analogue alarm devices connected to the BT telephone network.
Now that is about to change. With the analogue-digital changeover, BT will move its customers to a digital, Internet Protocol (IP) network, in readiness for the shutdown of all its traditional telephone lines beginning in 2023.
Furthermore, the recent move by NHS toward post-operative care in the home (so called Virtual Wards) enables the freeing-up of hospital capacity, early hospital discharge, and avoidance of readmission.
New IP technology, GSM, GPS, IOT, and the internet, are now capable of delivering a new breed of tech-enabled care, in the form of activity monitoring, tracking devices and wearable sensors, to people of all ages, providing 24/7 monitoring and support in the home and when out and about.