Hartford Care has teamed up with Sensio, a Norwegian company specialising in room sensors and advanced care technology to minimise the risk of resident falls, in a four-month trial at its Hartford Court care home in Portsmouth – the first care home in the UK to trial this pioneering technology.
Sensio’s flagship solution, RoomMate, is proven to reduce falls, along with tracking sleep patterns and showing when people are waking or getting up during the night. Privacy is ensured with an anonymised infra-red 3D sensor, rather than the use of cameras, and the sensors can detect many movements, from the resident sitting up in bed, to them getting up from a chair or leaving the room, so appropriate action can be taken by team members. Importantly, RoomMate can also alert carers if the resident is calling for help when they may otherwise not be able to reach their call bell.
The RoomMate sensor ultimately reduces the need for nightly visits, so residents can sleep better with less interruptions. In Scandinavian care homes where the technology is already being used, falls have reduced on average by 60% across its 8,000 daily users.
The technology works by an alarm being raised by the sensor if there is movement within a resident’s room. The care team can then check what kind of an alarm it is via the RoomMate app on a phone, tablet or computer. If further information is required, an anonymous snapshot of the incident is shared, so the team knows whether they need to attend or if the resident is moving around safely. It’s also possible to see the current status and position for all residents in their rooms at a glance from a single screen without compromising their privacy.
Kevin Shaw, Chief Executive at Hartford Care, comments: “It’s a very exciting prospect to be the first care home in the UK to be trialling RoomMate. This is ground-breaking technology which could help our entire industry develop and evolve; I am looking forward to seeing the impact this will have on our already exceptional resident care.”
Johan Anstensrud, Chief Executive at Sensio, comments: “We are delighted that the residents and staff at Hartford Care will reap the benefits from our revolutionary safety sensor RoomMate. For years it has proven to be a success in Scandinavia, preventing falls, injuries and ailments, and giving more time for personal care. I am looking forward to continuing this exciting journey also in the UK, together with Hartford Care.”
Hartford Care is governed by three core principals – care, comfort and companionship; and its philosophy of care is completely focussed on providing a safe and comfortable lifestyle for its residents and carers in a quality home setting.
Hartford Care’s head office is based in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Established in 1908, its care homes are located in Bristol, Berkshire (Burnham and Maidenhead), Devon (Sidmouth), Dorset (Poole), Hampshire (Barton-on-Sea, Four Marks, Hythe, Portsmouth, Winchester and Woodlands), Isle of Wight (Bembridge, Ryde and Shanklin), Oxfordshire (Witney) and Wiltshire (Downton).