What is the cost of care in your area?

The BBC have published an interesting article looking at how the cost of care varies across regions. There is also a space to type in your area/postcode to find out how much care will cost near you.

Click here to learn more.

NHS Test Beds announced

Older patients and people with long term conditions and mental health problems will be among the first to benefit from a major new drive to modernise how the NHS delivers care.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens launched the first wave of NHS Innovation ‘Test Beds’.

These collaborations between the NHS and innovators – including Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences), IBM and Philips – aim to harness technology to address some of the most complex issues facing patients and the health service.

Frontline health and care workers in seven areas will pioneer and evaluate the use of novel combinations of interconnected devices such as wearable monitors, data analysis and ways of working which will help patients stay well and monitor their conditions themselves at home.

Successful innovations will then be available for other parts of the country to adopt and adapt to the particular needs of their local populations.

Sites are:

 

North East London

Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale

Lancashire and Cumbria

Sheffield City Region

Birmingham and Solihull

West of England

Surrey and Borders

Please click here to find out more.

Techy Tools for Caregivers!

We thought this was interesting... perhaps you could have a look at what's available for caregivers? The links below should give you a good idea...

There is a list of 5 Game-Changing Tech Tools for Caregivers 

Sunrise Senior Living's review of the 5 best apps for caregivers and mHealthTalk's list of the best smartphone apps for caregivers. 

 systematic review  found that caregivers significantly reduced burden and had a dose response, being more effective the more often they were used. 

Another systematic review found that technology-based cognitive behavioral therapy interventions may be a cost-effective way to reduce depression in caregivers.

There is also a report on using technology to aid caregiving from the National Alliance for Caregiving.  View report here.

The Aging in Place Technology Watch just released a new 2015 market overview on technology for aging in place.