Enabling Independent Living through advancing Universal Design of Telecare & Telehealth

There is an increasing body of evidence that shows telehealth and telecare systems result in better independence for people with disabilities, older people and many others in receipt of community-based social services as well as better patient outcomes for people in receipt of healthcare services. Practice and research from the UK suggests there are benefits to all stakeholders in the value change. But what are the key issues that need to be addressed in the Irish context and what do we know about current telehealth/telecare practices in Ireland.

On the 23rd May 2012, The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD) at the National Disability Authority (NDA) hosted 'Enabling Independent Living though advancing Universal Design of Telecare & Telehealth' seminar at Croke Park Stadium.

The objective of this seminar was to investigate, in an open forum, the benefits of using telehealth/telecare technology within Irish health and social care settings.

The AgeNDA for the day was as follows:

08.45 – 09.15: Registration

09.15 – 09.35: Opening comments: Siobhan Barron (Director, NDA), Dónal Rice (Senior ICT Design Advisor, (CEUD)

09.35-09.55: Keynote address 1: Cathal Magee (CEO, Health Services Executive)

09.55-10.25: Keynote address 2: Professor Stan Newman, (Principal Investigator, Whole Systems Demonstrator project). “Initial findings and lessons from the Whole Systems Demonstrator project”

10.25-10.45: Mary Connolly (Practice Development Officer, Alzheimer Society of Ireland) “Alzheimer Society Telecare Project”

10.45 – 11.05: Peter Nelson (CEO, Valentia Technologies) “Challenges for implementation”

11.05 – 11.20: Coffee

11.20 – 11:45: Dr Margaret Whoriskey (Director, Joint Improvement Team, Scotland) " Integrating Telehealth into the mainstream: Scotland experience"

11:50 - 12.50: Panel discussion: “Increasing the use of telehealth and telecare systems in Ireland - User, practitioner, implementation and research perspectives”

• Brigid Barron (Caring for Carers)
• Sarah Delaney (Work Research Centre)
• Peter Nelson (Valentia Technologies)
• Professor Stan Newman (Principal Investigator, Whole Systems Demonstrator Project)
• Dr Margaret Whoriskey (Director, Joint Improvement Team. Scotland)

12:50 - 13:00: Closing remarks.

The outcomes of this seminar will cover issues of:

• costs, benefits, sustainable business models and means to incentivise uptake
• Benefits to the quality of healthcare service delivery for patients
• Evaluating outcomes,
• Approaches to service transformation,
• Necessity for ‘joined-up’ services across all stakeholder roles in public and private entities involved, e.g. equipment maintenance, monitoring services, emergency response service, care work service, medical service,
• End user perspectives e.g. patients, community care service users, carers and family,
• Equipping users to become agents for change.

Telecare is the remote or enhanced delivery of health and social services to people in their own home by means of telecommunications and computerised systems. Telehealth is the delivery of health and/or other care-related services and information via telecommunications.