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What else can I help you with?
Which you the best National Hospice company?
Vitas Innovative Hospice based on their Telecare and continuous care teams.
What did people do before telecare?
Loved ones compromised abilities to care for themselves, such as physical traumas (surgery recoveries, broken bones, dangerous falls, dementia related wandering) were at much greater risk, and experienced much more feelings of insecurity and fear. This is especially true for the early stage dementia patient. Families and carers for these were much more handicapped in their ability to help and consequently under more stress due to fear of a event occurring. Jay Bridges
What is pharmacy services?
Pharmacy services that are located away from the main or central pharmacy. They are usually seen in a hospital setting. For example, there are some hospitals that have the big pharmacy located on one floor and then have little pharmacies located in specialty care areas like OR, Pediatrics, Oncology, Day Surgery, etc. These satellite pharmacies usually carry drugs that are only relevant for their specialty care area. For example, the OR pharmacy will mainly carry drugs that are used for anesthesia, meds to get reverse anesthesia if there is a problem, and pain meds. Oncology will mainly carry meds that are used to treat cancer, pain, and any side effects of the oncology meds. Decentralized Pharmacy Services also include the automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) like the Pyxis machines located in the med rooms on all the patient care areas (hospital floors where patients are located). These are stocked, restocked, and maintained by the main pharmacy, but it brings the medications closer to the nurses and patients that need them rather than waiting for the main pharmacy to send each and every dose of medication to each patient for the entire hospital.
What are Smart homes and how can Smart homes help disabled people?
Intelligent homes ("smart" homes, automated homes, domotics, home networks etc.) are no longer a design concepts of the future. They are being built now, and they are having a direct impact on the lifestyles of people living in them. Intelligently designed and operated buildings yield dramatic increases in worker productivity and energy cost savings, and administrative savings within work environments as well as domestic ones. "Smart" Home is the term commonly used to define a residence that uses a home controller to integrate the residences various home automation systems (putting devices together). Integration of the home systems allows them to communicate with one another through the home controller, thereby enabling single button and voice control of the various home systems simultaneously, in pre-programmed scenarios or operating modes. 'Smart Homes' can be used to support older and disabled people, providing safe, secure and empowering environments. The 'Smart Home' can allow the user to control many features or automate the ones that might be required. The user can also be monitored by the 'Smart Home' system to ensure their safety, and alert people should the user be in difficulties. Although the 'Smart Home' has been embraced by the monied factions, it's utility within the realm of augmenting the standard care packages is slowly evolving. A number of 'Smart Homes' have been developed in the UK that have been specifically designed to demonstrate the technology for older people and people with disabilities. A fundamental stumbling block that has been identified through the development of these sites is that there is no consistent or easy method of developing a 'Smart Home' that meets the true needs of the end user. As time has gone one, the term 'smart home' has begun to lose its meaning and therefore it is better to consider the technology as assistive. Ideally, appropriate technology should allow people to be free to expand their horizons beyond the limited scope that would have been open to them prior to the installation of the system. The technology can benefit many people, although the most direct beneficiaries are the residents and the carers for who the system is primarily designed around. Appropriate systems can allow carers to spend quality time with residents and allow residents appropriate times of isolation (if they wish) without other parties requiring to check up on them. Systems should also be adaptable and grow with the users. The need to be maintainable and easily modified as the needs of the user change. Most importantly they need to be reliable and dependable. They should do what the person expects them to do, when they expect it, in the manner they expect it. Often the best systems are the simplest with the least technological intervention. Good building design (inclusive and universal design) can mitigate much of the need for extra technology. It is also the case that it is wise not to attempt to predict a system before undertaking a thorough user needs evaluation as often what the resident might actually require is a system completely different from your initial expectation. We are at an interesting point in history as smart homes are making way for systems such as telecare and telemedicine which are designed to support people in their homes by monitoring aspects of their daily life. These systems are still in their infancy and in many cases the algorithms are somewhat naive relying on people undertaking the same tasks repeatedly on a daily or weekly basis. Currently the philosophy of their use is that is it better to send an alert to an external call centre than to have a person possibly in difficulties. The issue that we will have to address in the future is what happens when call centres are snowed under by false alerts. Is this invasive of a person's privacy to continually have people checking on them. When should alerts be sent and when should they not be sent. Older people as well as people with disabilities have lives and consequently they will do things that the installers of the system have not allowed for in the programme. Clearly this could be potentially very embarrasing if a system suggests a person is in trouble when in fact they are just doing something the programers had not accounted for. This is one of the difficulties with presure sensors on beds etc. In a similar vein, how does a system tell the difference between a person lying on the floor in distress due to a fall and soeone who happens to decide to read a book in the bathroom? How do systems cope with behaviour out of the ordinary?
