Watch our video on the role of a Technology Enhanced Lives Facilitator.
The Technology Enhanced Lives Service
The Technology Enhanced Lives Service from Kent County Council covers a wide range of monitored and alert equipment. These are designed to enhance the quality of life for people who require a bit more support in their daily lives, whilst providing re-assurance to their family and friends that their loved one has help available to them 24 hours a day seven days a week.
The service aims to support a variety of people, such as the elderly, or those living with physical, mental or chronic health conditions.
Kent County Council offers three services to meet people’s needs:
- The Long-Term Service is a free, open-ended service, for people who have been assessed as eligible for the service
- The Short-Term Service is a free, 10-week service, designed to support people to return to their previously levels of safety and independence following hospital discharge, enablement or respite care. No assessment of needs is required for the Short Term Service.
- The Private Pay Service provided by Argenti is for people who are not eligible for Council funded services, or who do not wish to be assessed.
To find out more about council funded services in Kent please visit the Kent County Council website.
Watch our videos
Read the stories of people supported with the Technology Enhanced Lives Service
Tyler currently lives at home with his parents and younger sibling. He has dyspraxia, an anxiety disorder, and is awaiting a diagnosis for autism. Tyler has a sensory processing disorder and struggles with bright lights and loud noises.
In September, Tyler will be leaving home to attend university. To prepare for Tyler's transition to university, his referrer submitted a Long-Term Service referral and discussed with the Technology Enhanced Lives Service (TELs) the best ways to support him.
The referrer noted that Tyler dislikes clothes with buttons and zips and prefers watches without bulky straps. TELS aims to assist Tyler with daily prompts such as waking up, leaving the house on time, taking medication, ordering medication from the pharmacy, and picking it up. After evaluating his needs and identifying that Tyler dislikes clothes with buttons and zips and prefers watches without bulky straps, the referrer and TELS team determined that the James Watch (an emergency call watch) would be the most suitable device for Tyler.
The TELS team, the referrer, and Tyler have been in communication about the support, and the watch aims to reduce Tyler's need for care while helping him maintain a routine. This preparation will help Tyler get used to having these prompts before he moves to university.
The referral aims to help Tyler access the local community and be less dependent on domiciliary care. It is estimated that this support will avoid the need for 7-10 hours of additional care each week. The equipment is particularly beneficial since he will be moving away and will not have to connect or disconnect it each time moving from home to home.
We are excited to see the long-term impact this will have for Tyler, supporting his independence and his studies as he reaches this significant milestone
Violet is 80-year's old and lives alone. She has Lewy body dementia.
As a result of this, activity monitoring has been requested to better understand the risk of Violet walking with purpose in the community at unsociable hours. On one occasion in the past, Violet had been returned home by a police officer.
Although Violet receives daycare, her family is concerned about the decline in her health and cognition and feel a residential placement might be better for her.
Violet would prefer to stay in her own home, and therefore HOWZ (a activity monitoring service) is being used to understand her night-time movements and when she leaves/enters the property. This data will be used to inform a decision about Violets future package of care
Violet had the HOWZ system installed for a three-week period. During this time, the Technology Enhanced Lives team were able to analyse data and her patterns of behaviour.
Through a range of data charts, the team were able to establish that Violet had a good nighttime routine in place which suggested there was no nighttime concerns.
Data also suggested that Violet had regular routine during the days and was frequently leaving the house to access community activities. There was also activity which showed her carers and family often visited to support with meal preparation.
A report of three weeks was presented to the family and social care professionals which indicated that Violet was on the whole, coping well at home.
This evidence supported Violet's wishes of remaining at home and reduced the need for residential accommodation through data.
Alice is in her seventies. She has been in hospital for a significant amount of time and was needing support to return home. She was recently discharged from hospital and referred to the long term Technology Enhanced Lives Service(TELs) to support with the ongoing risk of fire within her home. Last year, a fire occurred at the property which was believed to be linked to smoking, and Alice did not call the emergency services for help. After partially putting out the fire and leaving it to smoulder, she went back to bed.
Ahead of a referral being submitted, TELS held a Multi-Disciplinary Team meeting with Hospital Teams, the Kent Fire and Rescue Service, SECAmb and KCC Adult Social Care. As Alice cannot reliably seek assistance in an emergency, the emergency services agreed to attend all alerts raised by Alice, accepting that some of these may be false alarms. Similarly, the monitoring centre established a protocol to contact the emergency services if an alert is raised by a smoke detector – even if Alice says there is no fire at the property.
A dispersed alarm unit and two smoke detectors were installed by Argenti. The installation of these devices facilitated hospital discharge, minimised environmental risks and helped to delay her going into residential care.
Since the installation of devices there have been a total of 10 calls to the monitoring centre. All calls received have been issues that the monitoring centre have been able to resolve, with no alerts raised with emergency services. Alice also contacts her carers for reassurance when needed.
Alice's service is continually reviewed to check that the monitoring is still helpful to her situation.
Darcy has cerebral palsy which impacts her mobility and dexterity. Following spinal surgery, she is often ill and is at risk of choking. Darcy lives in a self-contained annex next door to her mother’s house, which she has adapted to better meet her needs.
Darcy receives 20 hours of personal assistance each day. She is without care for the remaining four hours each day.
The introduction of a pendant alarm has allowed Darcy to call for help if she needs it, which has enabled her to be more independent, given her mother peace of mind, and helped to avoid the need for an increased package of care.
Since getting the equipment, Darcy hasn't had to call for emergency help, but regularly tests the equipment to make sure it works.
The referrer predicts that this will save 28 hours of extra care per week, which shows how a simple solution can achieve significant outcomes for the person and the Council.
Sharon, who suffers from heart problems, was recently discharged from the hospital and referred for our Short Term Service to regain her independence at home. As part of this service, Sharon had the 'Home Falls Package' installed, with a wrist-worn device. This device provides Sharon with reassurance that help will be available if there is ever a risk of falls.
Sharon has two nearby responders. If she presses the button or if the falls detector detects a fall, they can be alerted. They can quickly come to help Sharon, depending on the situation that triggered the detection.
The Short Term Service team anticipates to help Sharon avoid a hospital readmission in the next 10 weeks. Sharon's referral was swiftly processed, and the installation turnaround was less than a week, ensuring that the short-term service could begin promptly and Sharon could begin to live independently without a fear of falls.
Although Sharon has not needed to make an emergency call yet, she has tested the equipment to ensure it is functioning correctly and that she is fully connected.
News
Kent County Council has recently learned of scamming attempts from companies trying to collect money from residents of Kent.
A member of Kent County Council staff will never contact you to ask for payment to be made to them directly or ask you for your personal bank account details. Please be aware that if you are using the Private Pay function additional information and a payment mechanism may be required. If you are being asked for payment by someone claiming to be a member of Kent County Council or being affiliated with Kent County Council, or any concerns, please contact your Case Officer or the TELS Team at 03000 416161 to check this person is who they say they are.
If you receive a letter, email or telephone call relating to your care you are concerned is a scam, please do not respond and inform your Case Officer or contact the team on 03000 414955/ TELS@kent.gov.uk to gain support.
This house will help you understand the equipment available as part of the Technology Enhanced Lives Service and ways in which it can support you to remain independent and safe living in your own home. This page will provide you with information about products available in the service, how the product can be used to support you and some real-life experiences of other people that have used similar equipment.