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PRIORITISING INDIVIDUAL NEEDS OF DEMENTIA CARE RESIDENTS
The Priory in Pembury, Kent is a 30 bed specialist residential care home for dementia sufferers. The proprietor, Ernie Graham took over the home in 2003 with the intention of creating an environment and standard of care best suited to individual needs and preferences. "The problem any dementia care home has is, of course, the inherent dangers in unsupervised mobility of residents", says Ernie. "It meant that previously staff spent a lot of their time physically observing groups of patients, which restricted movement.
In effect, the role of staff was being increasingly confined to acting as security guards – rather than fulfilling what they are trained for and genuinely wish to do, that is, focusing on patient care and assistance. We wanted to change this culture and were delighted to find out about the My Amego system."
Monitoring sensitive situations
My Amego’s discreet sensoring of environments allows un-assisted movement for care home residents – being tailored to individual capabilities and preferences. The My Amego user wears a pendant, which triggers recognition to a central control when that user enters, or passes through a sensor in the home. It is particularly adept at monitoring sensitive situations. "For instance, toilet regularity of dementia sufferers is a particular concern for us as carers", comments Ernie. "With My Amego, our staff can monitor this situation discreetly, but pro-actively".
Significant benefits to user and carer alike
Ernie Graham is also quick to point out that the primary advantage of using My Amego is not as a cost saving measure, but the system does have the ability to provide significant benefits in supporting productivity of staff and efficient use of resources. My Amego captures movement data 24/7, which can be used to create personalised, quality, detailed and direct feedback on all aspects of the person's care. "Families and advocates of residents are also able to have on-line access to a protected website, where they can observe movement patterns of their loved ones", says Ernie. In addition, My Amego facilitates the adjustment of care plans through analysis reports of the user's activities and is an invaluable tool for care plan inspections – where, for example, full records of residents' overnight monitoring are readily available. "We work in an area of considerable risk", says Ernie. "Anything we can do to enhance our duty of care is vital to build upon the strong relationships we currently have – and by so doing improve our long term business prospects". To find out more about The Priory, go to: www.thepriorypembury.co.uk
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