Assistive technology and telecare
Brownsell S and Bradley D (2003)
The Policy Press
This report provides an overview of possible future options for providing tele-homecare monitoring and support for the elderly.
A section on evidence from questionnaires investigating user requirements will be of particular interest to nurses, and primary and social service elderly home care teams. The chapter on emerging policy appears to be the most up-to-date addition to the original research, since this recognises the current government national programme for IT - and thus mentions integrated clinical record service (ICRS) rather than electronic patient record (EPR) and e-prescribing.
The evaluation sections are well presented and recognises the complex variables inherent in delivering new care options for the elderly. There may be some confusion by the telemedicine labels - medical diagnosis and medical monitoring - which many nurses involved in leading such projects would recognise more as person-based home physiological monitoring. (For example, monitoring elderly clients with diabetes to avoid costly complications, especially those with inappropriately monitored polypharmacy).
Overall, this is a very useful and comprehensive introductory overview of current and future possibilities in tele-homecare, and one which illustrates the difficulty in keeping paper-based material up to date in such a fast moving and political e-Health arena.
Bernice Baker
Freelance Consultant Nurse
Lecturer Practitioner Bournemouth University, Chair E-Health Group