TTL and Telenor develop new solutions for home nursing

Lilly Ann Stenvold and Bente Evjemo from Telenor present results from trial

Technology moves into home nursing

The population is rapidly growing older. In 2035, there will probably be twice as many people over 80 as today, and this increases costs associated with healthcare. Through strategic plans, municipalities are in process of preparing for these challenges. We see an increased focus on disease prevention, organizational change and efficiency measures. ICT and assistive technology get an increasingly important role in the overall care work.
 

Better quality of life through technology

Telenor has tried out sensor based welfare technology in five Norwegian municipalities to get better insight into how this technology can relieve, streamline and improve care services. The equipment includes various types of alarms and sensors that can help the elderly safely stay at home longer. Health care services can save money and the patient gets a higher quality of life.

Positive feedback from users

- Each of the tools was tested by a small number of users, says Lilly Ann Stenvold, researcher m-Health Telenor. - This provides no basis for drawing general conclusions, but we nevertheless believe that the experiments have given interesting results. We see that there have been successful connecting of sensors to the security alarm. This means that alarm messages are routed into a system that already works well. We have received positive feedback both from the home care worker and the patient. Increased confidence, coping and quality of life are important elements in the feedback. It also proved that the home care service could cut out some of the routine night visits.

Welfare technology provides opportunities

The experiment has provided knowledge and experiences to the participating municipalities. it has been motivating to further look into welfare technology. The technology has potential to become a useful tool to support the important work of the home nursing service.

Facts

• Health care is facing major challenges with a coming wave of older and an increased need for health services.
• Better coordination and smarter organization are needed to solve the tasks.
• New technology, IT and broadband is part of the solution to the health sector challenges.

Contact:

Lilly Ann Stenvold, Telenor, lilly-ann.stenvold@telenor.com

Sture Pettersen, TTL, sture.pettersen@telemed.no