Telecare monitoring is not ‘disembodied’ work

Calling for Care: ‘Disembodied’ Work, Teleoperators and Older People Living at Home

Abstract: The provision of ‘distant’ care to older people living at home through telecare technologies is often contrasted negatively to hands-on, face-to-face care: telecare is seen as a loss of care, a dehumanization. Here we challenge this view, arguing that teleoperators in telecare services do provide care to older people, often at significant emotional cost to themselves. Based on a European Commission-funded ethnographic study of two English telecare monitoring centres, we argue that telecare is not ‘disembodied’ work, but a form of care performed through the use of voice, knowledge sharing and emotional labour or self-management. We also show, in distinction to discourses promoting telecare in the UK, that successful telecare relies on the existence of social networks and the availability of hands-on care. Telecare is not a substitute for, or the opposite of, hands-on care but is at its best interwoven with it.

Authors:
Celia Roberts, Lancaster University, UK

Maggie Mort, Lancaster University, UK
Christine Milligan, Lancaster University, UK

Full paper at:

http://soc.sagepub.com/search?author1=Celia+Roberts&sortspec=date&submit=Submit

Remote monitoring of patients with heart implants

Can we get eight billion hearts on speed dial? Leslie Saxon of the USC Center for Body Computing shows the diagnostic and data potential of marrying smartphone tech with heart monitors.

E-reminders improve med adherence in patients with chronic conditions

from FierceHealthIT:

Sending electronic reminders to patients is a simple yet effective way to improve medication adherence of patients with chronic conditions, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

The researchers, from several institutions in the Netherlands, noted that one of the primary reasons that patients with chronic conditions have a hard time adhering to long term treatment is forgetfulness. While reminders may help, personal reminders from providers require an extensive time investment, while "reminder packaging" doesn't actively remind patients. The researchers hypothesized that electronic reminders may be a better option.

Full text at:
http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/e-reminders-improve-med-adherence-patients-chronic-conditions/2012-04-30

Telehealth on mobiles rolling out to thousands of patients in Somerset (UK)

from Telecare Aware:

NHS Somerset has begun rolling out telehealth equipment to thousands of its patients as part of a scheme that will allow them to monitor long-term health conditions from home. As part of a three-year, £1.2m contract, 4,000 NHS patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease and diabetes will be able to monitor their health and vital signs remotely. The scheme uses the system from Safe Patient Systems with touchscreen mobile phones programmed with personalised care plans. Each day the phones will prompt patients to answer key questions about their health and will automatically capture their vital physical signs. Telehealth has been used in Somerset for some time, but this is the first time mobile devices have been involved. Some patients have said they prefer using mobile phones instead of the previous Tunstall system which used a 'box' located in the living room.

Full text at:
http://www.telecareaware.com/index.php/telehealth-on-mobiles-rolling-out-to-thousands-of-patients-in-somerset-uk.html

What is ehealth?

A description of eHealth produced by Wales NHS Informatics Service:

Health at a fingertip

from ISTOÉ:

The use of applications in medicine, physical training, nutrition and wellness makes cell phones and tablets the newest features to enhance the body and mind care.

Full text at (in Portuguese):
http://www.istoe.com.br/reportagens/197736_A+SAUDE+A+UM+TOQUE+DOS+DEDOS

First the Smart Phone, Now the Smart Home: Technology Anticipates, Meets Our Needs for Health, Efficiency

From SciencyDaily:


We have all heard of the smartphone and, any day now, most of us will have one. Not far behind: the smart home

Writing in the latest issue of the journal Science, Washington State University's Diane Cook says it won't be long before our homes act as "intelligent agents" that use sensors and software to anticipate our needs and tend to tasks that improve our health, energy efficiency, even social media. (...)

Cook has been applying artificial intelligence in test homes since coming to WSU in 2006. Sites around the Northwest, including 18 apartments in Seattle, already show that the technology can help monitor aging-in-place elderly residents and alert caregivers if they are not completing ordinary activities like rising, eating, bathing and taking medications.

Full text at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120329170435.htm