The Introduction of Activity Monitoring as Part of Care Delivery to Independently Living Seniors

Abstract

Demographic trends in southern Netherlands predict an increasing aging population in the coming decade. Since there will not be enough health providers available to meet the growing demand of care of the elderly, there is a need to reorganize the Dutch health care system in a more efficient way. In this process, innovative technologies can play an important role. It is speculated that monitoring daily activities may be an effective way to obtain information on well-being of seniors living independently. Alterations in behavior could then be used to support the organization of care delivery to these persons. Technology has become available commercially by which the activities of the elderly living at home are automatically monitored. In the USA this technology mainly is used to support informal carers in their care after their relatives at a distance. The authors speculated that this technology may also be used as a communication infrastructure that can deliver information to care workers. Moreover, this could enable them to re-organize the process of care delivery in such a way that future challenges are met effectively. They were able to set up a series of projects in which this speculation was substantiated. First of all a small pilot experiment was started to demonstrate that the technology was applicable in the province of Limburg in The Netherlands. Not only the technical feasibility could be demonstrated, also the development of a communication infrastructure in which several (international) organizations, each with specific expertise, was completed successfully. Also at the user level (clients and care workers) evidence was gathered that this approach may deliver an adequate support. Next, a large scale implementation project was started. In this project the consequences of data delivery by the technology in the work process of care deliverers was investigated. Instructional courses and new care management tools targeted at home-care workers were developed to support the effective use of this infrastructure. In the mean time other care organizations were invited to participate in the projects. At the client level, evidence is gathered to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system. The research and implementation projects are now financed by grants. It is the intention of the care organization involved, to use this infrastructure in a regular way. This means that a structural financial scheme had to be developed. Thus information was gathered to set up a business case for the future use of this technology.The results obtained up to now will be discussed in this chapter.