By Charlotte Webster-
Health and social care organisations in the UK have called on prime minister, Boris Johnson, to take urgent action to improve the level of technology-enabled dementia care across the UK’s social care sector.
The group, which includes the National Care Forum, National Care Association and medical technology company, PainChek, has submitted an open letter, calling on government to improve the financial and strategic support for dementia care, and to allow social care organisations to embrace the power of technology and innovation to improve care for people with dementia and those who support them.
The letter has been signed by around 100 private sector and not-for-profit organisations and individuals, all of whom have demanded that the government conduct an urgent review of the status and progress of the commitments set out in the Dementia 2020 Challenge, and is the foundation of a new campaign: ‘The tech revolution: dementia care’s time has come.’
PainCheck said it has seen how Alzheimer’s and dementia, and has witnessed first-hand how technology can help improve and transform the lives of those living with it.
This letter represents the shared commitment from across the health and social care sector to focus on improving the care for people with dementia and those who support them, giving them the opportunity and means to maximise the potential for technology and innovation.
This letter representative of the shared commitment from across the health and social care sector to focus on improving the care for people with dementia and those who support them, giving them the opportunity and means to maximise the potential for technology and innovation.
It states that the government must have seen the benefits that tech has brought to enabling the provision of virtual and remote care, and monitoring the health of people – many of whom are the most vulnerable in society – in care homes and their own homes.
”Without targeted, long-term financial support, it is highly likely that Alzheimer’s and dementia will remain the country’s silent, biggest killer, significantly impacting the lives of thousands across the UK.
Now is the time for dedicated government support and investment that will at last enable the social care sector to truly benefit from, adopt and roll-out, innovative technology that supports the care of people living with dementia, to bring the sector in-line with the digital revolution already seen in many areas of the public and private sectors”, it adds.
Where introduced and utilised, the power of tech has played a critical role in facilitating better health outcomes for care home residents, with point-of-care recording and powerful reporting that reduce the administrative burden on care home staff and equips them with the means and information to better care for and treat residents.
Professor Martin Green, chief executive ofCare England, said: “The United Kingdom has made significant progress on improving support and recognition for people living with dementia, however, we need to maintain the momentum, and to reach for the ambitious goals that we set for the Dementia 2020 Challenge. We require the government to make good on their commitments, and for our society to improve their support for people living with dementia.”
PainChek’s Pete Shergill added: “In today’s increasingly tech- and digital-first society, it is unsurprising that technology has the power to enhance dementia care and support care providers in the digitised world. But the government simply isn’t providing enough financial or strategic support to social care businesses to aid their adoption of technology-enabled dementia care.
“This shortfall in funding was further highlighted by the recent Spring Budget which disappointingly failed to provide the additional support the social care sector desperately needs. This is why we have launched the campaign and submitted the open letter to the PM and Parliament to get things changed – in a bid to bring the funding of tech in care in-line with the funding made available to the health and healthcare sectors.”