Company Profile A1: ICT2001UKX

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TELECARE
Merja Heikela- Finpro UK-Benelux
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UK health care system

• National Health Service (NHS)
• Provides comprehensive cover to all based on
  need, not the ability to pay.
• Europe's biggest organisation, workforce of
  around one million people

• General Practitioner (GP, Family Doctor )
• There are 36.000 GPs in the UK
• Services free of charge

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UK Health Care System

• NHS trusts
• Wide range of hospital and community based
  services
• 375 NHS Hospital trusts in the UK, several
  hospitals in each trust.

• Primary Care Groups (PCGs)
• Doctors, nurses and the other professionals
  working with health authorities for local people.

• Private Health Care
• Complements the public sector
• E.g. in routine surgery without long waiting
  times and long-term care.
• Over 12 per cent, 7.5 million of the population
  are covered by private medical insurance

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NHS Direct

• New confidential NHS service offering 24-hour
  access to free advice from a trained health
  professional and information about health
  problems and services by phone
• In case of an emergency situation, call will be
  passed directly through to the emergency services
• More than 20 million people are now covered

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Elderly People and Development Trend

• Old people today are
• Living longer
• Remaining active longer
• More demanding
• Better educated
• Wealthier

The market for suitable products grows due to
the increasing proportion of older people and the
community care. According to the Community Care
Act law people should be able to stay at home as
long as possible.
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Elderly people in the UK
Percentages of elderly people in the UK
85 years and over 75-84 years 65-74 years Under
65 years
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Use of a Computer and the Internet
Over 4 million people aged over 50 own a
computer, spending an average of 9 hours per week
using it.

• Age Concern charity and Microsoft are providing
  Mobile IT Training Sessions in day centres,
  residential and care homes.
• Basic PC skills, the use of email, and how to
  explore the internet are introduced to older
  people who would not otherwise have access to it.
  

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Use of a Computer and the Internet

• 64 of older computer users feel that using a
  computer has made a positive difference to their
  lives
• 81 of older people surveyed said they found it
  easy to use a computer.

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IT related shopping
Users of Home Shopping Services by Age ( of
adults), 2000
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Opportunities Computer and the Internet

• In terms of Internet usage and the commercial
  possibilities it holds for the elderly market,
  there is a real opportunity for growth. Age range
  for greatest potential usage among elderly is
  60-70

• The most popular web-sites amongst older people
  are learning, fact finding and travel

• As well as commercial sites there are numerous
  non-profit making sites just for elderly people
  and their carers and relatives

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Opportunities with the DigiTV

• In recent years broadcasters and manufacturers of
  analogue television sets have developed various
  schemes to address the needs of viewers with
  special needs.
• Digital television offers the potential to
  develop additional services for viewers with
  sensory and physical impairments. E.g. audio
  description, enhanced subtitling, the potential
  for customisable interfaces.
• 1 M people use subtitling facilities whenever
  possible and a further 4 M use them frequently.

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Security devices
New products to improve monitoring of the safety
of elderly and disabled people. There are now
systems for
Lighting that will switch on if someone rises
from bed during the night.
Alarms capable of sensing falls, or hypothermic
conditions
Specialised telephones and videoconferencing
Electronic prompts for people with memory loss
Remote entry systems and detectors for people
who wander
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Telecare /Telemedicine current status and
trends in the UK
Telecare technology will be used to provide
reliable but discreet supervision of vulnerable
people who want to sustain an independent life in
their own home".
Telecare is part of the much wider subject of
Tele-medicine "The use of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) to deliver
healthcare at a distance".
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Telecare /Telemedicine current status and
trends in the UK

• The NHS Plan has identified need to invest in
  "intermediate care and related services to
  promote independence and improved quality of care
  for older people".
• Specifically it sets a goal of enabling 50,000
  more people to live independently at home.
• The development and use of ICT-based products
  and services is firmly on the NHS agenda.

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Examples of UK Telecare projects
a "Caring Home" project with public funding and
private backing from healthcare and technology
providers.
The Millennium Homes in the Greenwich area of
London will be full of sensors, linked by radio
to a base station, that will report on the
wellbeing of their inhabitants to local helpers
who are also overseen by a central call centre.
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Examples of UK Telecare projects

• Guildford Community Heart
• Body weight and blood pressure of group of
  patients living at home was transferred to the GP
  surgery using videophones as a means of
  monitoring and managing their condition.
• There was a significant clinical and "quality of
  life" benefit. The next stage is a trial
  involving 500 patients across three European
  countries.

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Examples of UK Telecare projects

• SAFE 21 Initially funded under the EU .
• Testing the feasibility of extending the existing
  well established Community Alarm and Call Centres
  service to include a Tele - monitoring facility.
• In the trials the phone is replaced by a PC which
  allows voice contact but also physiological data
  to be transmitted.

• People at Home and in Touch
• How new and emerging technologies can help older
  people to remain in their own homes and live more
  independently.
• The pilot uses various smart sensors and
  intelligent monitoring systems to support rurally
  isolated people.

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Examples of UK Telecare projects
ACTION Two part project I) Easily
assimilated information in multimedia form covers
a range of issues such as clinical information,
lifestyle information and benefits information.
II) The development of a delivery mechanism to
people's homes. This will use set-top boxes
connected to the telecommunications network and
the domestic TV. The set-top box includes a
videoconferencing facility which enables the
patient and a carer to have face-to-face meetings
with care professionals on the network.
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Examples of UK Telecare projects

• Anchor/BT ( British Telecom)
• Anchor Housing Trust is a major provider of
  sheltered and warden assisted accommodation in
  the UK.
• Collaborated with BT to place sensors around some
  of these individual homes. Collection of data
  (movement sensing, toilet usage, food preparation
  etc.) allows a pattern of daily living to be
  developed.
• This powerful predictive tool can be used both to
  alert carers to a potential crisis and in the
  longer term to monitor a person's wellbeing.

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Opportunities Telecare /Telemedicine

• Telecare has potential to support independent
  living in order to optimise health and social
  care resources. There is a growing demand and
  legal issues for this.
• Its implementation is resulting in major policy
  issues cutting across traditional domains of
  housing, health, and social services.

• Industrial sector activity is developing in the
  UK in order to meet the demands of the telecare
  market.
• Pilot projects offer opportunities also to
  Finnish companies and service providers.

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Opportunities Telecare /Telemedicine

• Smart Housing is an emerging field of technology
  that holds significant promise for enhancing the
  quality of life for disabled and elderly people.
• Furthermore, it will potentially support
  efficient and enhanced services delivered to
  their homes.
• The development and use of ICT-based products and
  services is firmly on the NHS agenda.
• Telecare is fundamentally changing the health
  and social services in the UK.

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Independent living in the Netherlands

• Ritva Huisman/Finpro Hague
• April, 2002

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Dutch population structure in 2025
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Trends in Dutch health care

• shifting from a public system to a more
  commercial system
• decision making from the national to regional and
  local level
• role of prevention becoming more important
• stress the persons own responsibility for his/her
  own health
• ict-solutions/applications on a larger scale

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Telemedicine, present situation

• already widely used on a professional level ECG,
  imaging,
• many trial projects in tele-monitoring,
  tele-treatment, tele-consulting, tele-diagnose,
  tele-surgeon, tele-conferencing
• problem start enthusiastically, but after the
  trial is complete, projects are rarely continued.

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Telemedicine possibilities

• due to the huge work force shortage in health
  and home care (in 2003 37.000!, mostly nursing
  and care persons, but also GP, specialist, etc)

• The challenge is for products to make care/cure
  at home possible.

• The Dutch state is forcing the sector to use
  ict-/telemedicine and telecare possibilities more
  and is providing extra funds for this.

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Independent Living Market BelgiumTEKES iWell

• April 2002

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Belgian population

• 10 263 000 inhabitants
• 17 of people older than 65 years
• -gt one of the oldest countries in Europe
• half million diabetics
• 173 000 dementia patients

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Healthcare in Belgium

• Very well developed social security system
  covering the whole population
• High reimbursement rate
• Patient has freedom to choose the healthcare
  provider
• Oversupply of doctors, dentists and
  physiotherapists but lack of home nursing and
  home care employees

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ICT in healthcare in Belgium

• Personal alarm systems adopted
• Telecare in general in test phase
• Several on-going telecare projects
• Smart home technology called domotica
• Belgium is open for new technologies.