Managing
long-term Conditions
According
to the King’s Fund, 17 million people in the UK live with
long-term medical conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes
and hypertension. A contributor to these conditions is a changing
lifestyle, in particular a less active way of life. Obesity is
not yet classed as a chronic disease or long-term condition in
the UK. In the US, the medical costs of addressing obesity in
2001 were $51 billion.
An NHS
report shows Long Term Conditions are responsible for 80 per cent
of GP consultations, and people with Long Term Conditions are
more likely to be admitted to hospital and to endure extended
periods of hospitalisation.
Poor
eating habits and a continued sedentary lifestyle will exacerbate
the problems of Long Term Conditions. For the foreseeable future
and certainly until there is a long term change in eating and
exercising habits, the number of people with Long Term Conditions
will continue to increase thereby putting an even greater strain
on the NHS.
Managing people’s Long Term Conditions
and preventing unnecessary hospitalisations is a fundamental
requirement; prevention is better than cure. Community Matrons
are already in place to support people with Long Term Conditions
and they need appropriate tools that enable them to manage their
existing and larger caseloads. Preventative telecare can improve
patient quality of life by preventing treatable problems from
becoming full-scale crises. It enables staff to identify when
a service user needs support, by providing close but non intrusive
monitoring.
How the Vivatec WristCare Home System helps
with Managing long-term Conditions
WristCare automatically collects Wellness
Data from users and sends this information (usually daily but
it can be every hour) to a receiving system. No specific action
by the user is necessary. The Community Matron, GP or even a relative
of the user can access this data from a secure internet site;
access passwords are required. WristCare already provides Community
Matrons in many parts of the UK with their patients’ wellness
information. It indicates which patients are improving; possibly
as a result of improved medication compliance. They also prioritise
their time on those patients whose conditions are deteriorating
and manage larger case loads.
Wellness
monitoring
Deterioration
alarm
Medication
management & compliance
Discreet
profile
= more information
