Cara has trialed new assistive technology, which provides round-the-clock monitoring of our customers’ health and wellbeing while they sleep.
Partnering with tech company Cura1, customers across two Supported Independent Living (SIL) houses and one Short-Term Accommodation service (STA) have trialed the ENSIGN Bed Sensor Pad (BSP) product. The BSPs are unobtrusive wireless pads, placed under a mattress, which monitor heart rate and respiration as well as track sleep quality, so they can tell when a customer is awake, in a light sleep or deep sleep.
The pads alert (where appropriate) when a customer is having disturbed sleep, or is out of bed. This ensures assistance can be provided for a customer with limited or reduced mobility or who is a falls risk.
The mats also allow for scheduled turnovers if a customer needs to be regularly turned, and staff are automatically alerted when it is time to do so. And, if the customer has turned by themselves, it will reset the turnover alert for the next scheduled time.
Data is secure and encrypted and can be monitored via the service phone, laptop or computer.
Marcus Gehrig, Cara’s Executive Manager of Customer Experience, says the trial is part of Cara’s commitment to embracing technology to deliver quality, innovative services to customers.
“Through the use of BSP technology, we were able to have additional monitoring of our customers’ health and wellbeing, while utilising the same the level of direct support hours. This created an efficient use of funding with a higher level of safeguarding,” Marcus said.
“The data generated by the mats could be used to provide credible evidence to support a change of circumstances if increased funding is needed for active overnight support, or to confirm if the current levels of overnight support are appropriate.
“This technology is exciting and can provide more reassurance for families of customers with high health or physical support needs, and increased confidence for the staff who support them.”
The BSP trial was recently completed and the data is now being reviewed for potential future use at Cara.
For more information about the ENSIGN Bed Sensor Pads, visit www.cura1.com
