Forging new relationships
The NHS already provide a range of health care advice, information and support through telephone, web and other digital channels.
And health chiefs in Lanarkshire believe that this latest innovation will pay dividends.
Morag Hearty, NHS Lanarkshire’s telehealth manager, explained: “The initiative is at its early stages but the results we’re seeing now bode extremely well.
“As well as aiding staff training and inter-home communications, one of the wider aims is to really establish the links between homes and clinical supports.
“From some of the work we’ve carried out so far, as with other established areas of telehealth, we know benefits include ease of accessibility and helping residents maintain their own independence without having to leave their homely setting for routines checks, where safe and appropriate.”
She added: “The value of the other activities should not be underestimated, however. By linking up the care homes and creating these wider, virtual communities the technology is allowing people to remain connected and even forge new relationships.”
The video conferencing initiative is taking root as South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership embark on a new programme of Building and Celebrating Communities (BCC).
BCC is focussed on empowering and helping, where necessary, communities build on their strengths, create connections and interdependencies.
Val de Souza, director of health and social care at SLH&SCP, explained video conferencing provides a vibrant example of that sentiment.
“The ground breaking work being carried out via telehealth and in South Lanarkshire’s eight care homes bodes well for the future of care and support.
“But this work is clearly paying dividends here and now – allowing the strong sense of community that already exists within our care homes to flourish, expand and interconnect.
“This also clearly demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that the care we provide is not only woven into the very fabric of community life, wherever possible, but also enables that very sense of connection and community to grow in its own terms and pace.”