Appendix Two - Case Studies and User Feedback

Case Study 1

Mrs K is 89 years old, lives in her own home and has limited mobility as well as being deaf. She has been using a range of Tunstall sensors since June 2004. She has found the falls detector cumbersome (it attaches to a belt) and so wears a pendant alarm. However, on the plus side Mrs K left her gas on and the gas detector alerted her to the situation. On another occasion the microwave shorted and emitted lots of smoke. The smoke detector went off and prevented an emergency.

Case Study 2

Mrs W is an eighty nine year old who lives alone in a first floor flat. Until recently she had spent several years looking after her frail husband, this appears to have been her main focus in life, declining formal offers of help until shortly before his death. Within a few days of her loss, Mrs W had an emergency admission into hospital resulting in surgery to remove gall stones. After hospital Mrs W was losing her motivation, was losing weight and withdrawing from social contacts.

The Project's Social Worker and Community Nurse visited Mrs W to support her through her bereavement, helping her to adjust to new life changes and encouraging her to maintain her physical and emotional well being. A care plan was developed, which included installing a WristCare unit.

Over the course of the last three months Mrs W has positively responded to the regular contacts, support and especially the time given. She has gained in weight, returned to some of her social activities and enjoys a more positive outlook. Mrs W particularly likes the security of wearing the wristcare alarm and feels more confident when mobilising or accessing her bath, indeed she now walks confidently around her flat. She has become adept at using the wristcare system and states that she likes the secure feeling that it gives her. Furthermore, when the activity data highlighted a change in her night time sequence, the project workers were able to respond immediately, resulting with the project's community nurse visiting Mrs W to discuss the very unsettled night that she had had and giving her advice to help prevent this re-occurring in the future.

Case Study 3

Mr T has been using WristCare since April 2005. He lives on his own and his immediate family are not close by. During May he developed pneumonia and a kidney infection. This became apparent on the activity data for that period (graph attached). Mr T fell over several times during this period and each time pressed the alarm and an immediate response was sent. Mr T was extremely grateful for the WristCare and believed it saved his life. The system has also given him confidence and make him feel safer in his own home.

User feedback

Interviews with thirteen service users who have been using WristCare for between three and six months have been completed. Their responses are:

· 9 out of 13 reported that it is easy to take off and put on.

· 10 out of 13 felt that it was helping them to stay independent.

· 12 out of 13 felt more confident.

· 8 out of 13 felt it took the strain off their family

· 12 out of 13 said it made them feel safer in their own home.

· 10 out of 13 felt it was not intrusive.

· All users wished to carry on with the pilot.

The Project Workers have also been consulted and their views include:

· 10 out of 11 felt the client's confidence increased (5 significantly)

· 10 out of 11 felt it gave the client an increased sense of safety (5 significantly)

· 9 out of 11 felt it increased the client's sense of independence

· 9 out of 11 thought it had helped the Project Worker (3 significantly)

· 7 out of 10 have reported that the activity data has been useful. Examples of its usefulness include helping to assess need, highlighting changes in activity levels and detecting a UTI.

The needs being met are:

· Feel more comfortable in own home

· Feel safer in own home

· Peace of mind for family and carers