Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care System (BLMK ICS) has announced plans to introduce a pain management device and robotic pets as part of its Digitising Social Care programme.
It said the plans have been made possible by an award of £1.1 million from NHS England’s Adult Social Care Technology Fund.
The ICS said the technologies will be used alongside others introduced as part of the digital programme.
The PainChek electronic device helps to identify and manage pain for people who are unable to communicate it verbally. It measures small changes in facial expressions and voice to quantify a pain score and guide carers to provide the right support.
BLMK ICS said the funding will make it possible to support around 1,000 residents in a variety of settings.
In addition, around 1,300 care home residents will be provided with robopets, robotic companions that can provide comfort and ease feelings of loneliness.
Benefits in wellbeing
Both innovations are said improve wellbeing and quality of life for residents by reducing distress and anxiety, which will also be reassuring to their friends and families.
A team of researchers from the University of Hertfordshire (supported by the Applied Research Collaboration East of England and The Office of Health Economics) will evaluate the impact of introducing these technologies in different adult social care settings. The evidence with be gathered through a mixture of methods and processes, including focus groups and observations to capture the experiences of service users, carers and key staff.
The aim is to understand the acceptability, usability, cost-effectiveness and impacts as the schemes are implemented and adopted – to inform the development of an evidence based plan for scale and spread across BLMK ICS.
Quality of life investment
Claire Steward, director of the Digitising Social Care programme, said: “We are very aware that depression, loneliness and dementia are real challenges for our ageing population, and are keen to invest in solutions that would help improve the quality of life of our residents and reduce pressure on care services.”
“Co-production and collaboration have always been very important to our team and after looking at a number of potential innovations, we have worked closely with our stakeholders and local care providers to agree which two schemes would most benefit our residents and providers.”
