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NEWS
Home care also needs to know if a patient needs a pad change…
Incontinence care takes up 26% of the total nursing resources because the task includes changing nappies, cleaning after pad leaks, urinary tract infections and fungus, and not least a lot of changing of dry pad because the staff do not know in advance if the person needs it. In home care, many unnecessary visits and disturbances are made because staff don’t know if a pad change is necessary. This is because wearing an unclean pad for a long time can have serious consequences for both resident and staff. In addition, many municipalities receive calls from residents who want a visit but don’t actually need it. As a result, resources are not spent where they are most needed, which is especially important when the entire care sector lacks resources and has difficulty recruiting now and in the future. Home care is also on a journey to become better at delivering exactly what is needed and with the right prioritisation of visits.
Unique modern technology has made it possible
Wear&Care introduced our sensor solution for all pad brands and types in 2022 for nursing homes and care homes. There have been several requests for use in home care as well, but our old solution required a connection to the customer’s WiFi, which is particularly cumbersome in private homes. We have therefore developed our solution to be independent of local WiFi infrastructure so that our sensors are now ‘plug-and-play’ and require no connection other than a regular mobile phone signal. We now use the most modern communication technology that requires the least from our customers and is the most secure. It hasn’t been easy, but now we’ve reached our goal and our sensors can be taken everywhere – even into people’s homes.
The potential is huge – also in home care
Every visit to home care costs a lot of time and resources. The more you know about the residents current needs, the better the resources can be utilised.
All you need to do is save a single visit to a citizen per month, and the investment in Wear&Care’s solution is financed. We expect the effect to be significantly greater and we are most pleased that residents are only disturbed when they want to be disturbed. It’s well known that many residents get tired of being disturbed by visitors when it is inconvenient. For example, at night when home care wakes them up only to realise that it could have waited until the next morning. This is why it really makes sense to use sensors for pads in home care.
Egedal Kommune is first on the list
Egedal Municipality has approached Wear&Care and is now implementing our solution in their home care. We’re off to a great start with some talented and committed people who we look forward to helping and working with. It’s great to experience a municipality that makes an effort to find the solutions that are most meaningful for both residents, staff and taxpayers.
We are proud that they have chosen our solution
– stay tuned
Herning municipality
Wear&Care Technologies and Herning Municipality collaborated on a test course at a nursing home in 2020. During the test period the citizens’ incontinence pads were changed when there was an individual need for it and not by routine changes. This resulted in significantly fewer changes than before the course. On average, the nursing home staff changed approx. four incontinence pads less per day, and during the period there was no need to make clothes or bottom changes due to leakage. The new work routines freed up time resources and reduced resource consumption on washing bed linen and clothes. During the test period the committed care center experienced a reduction in the use of incontinence pads of approx. 40% as well as an average time saving of one hour and 55 minutes per week per resident.
Sensor technology independent of incontinence pad supplier
Herning Municipality chose Wear&Care’s technology, as they emphasized that the sensor is independent of incontinence pad supplier. Wear&Care’s sensor technology is the only independent sensor on the market and the independence means that different incontinence pad brands can be used. Also, brands can be changed over time and as needed.
Increased quality of life for citizens
The use of Wear&Care’s technology contributed to a reduction in unnecessary disturbances and conflicts due to the handling of incontinence care. This was because citizens’ pads had to be changed less frequently during the test period. Furthermore, the use of sensor technology resulted in an increased experience of dignity due to minimizing the time citizens spent wearing a incontinence pad that needed to be changed. The time spent on wet surfaces due to urine leakage was completely eliminated during the test period, which was also conducive to the comfort and well-being of the citizens. Last but not least, a number of citizens achieved better night’s sleep because they had to have checked or changed incontinence pads to a lesser extent during the night.
Better physical and mental working environment
The fewer conflicts that can arise from incontinence pad changes gave the employees at the nursing home in Herning Municipality a better working environment. At the same time, it also had a positive effect on employee well-being that the employees could have a good conscience waiting to change the citizen’s incontinence pads until the examiner had given notice that it was necessary. Last but not least, the use of Wear&Care’s sensor technology contributed to a better physical work environment because there were fewer diaper and bottom changes and these work tasks can be physically stressful to perform.
Fraunhofer
Faunhofer is one of the world’s largest and leading research institutions, and it is a great honor that Faunhofer has wanted to work with Wear&Care Technologies as part of their focus on the use of welfare technology in geriatric care. Fraunhofer in Germany is conducting a research project with the aim of finding the most suitable technology that can improve the treatment of incontinence in both the hospital environment and in geriatric care. After researching available technology worldwide, Wear & Care has been selected to participate in the research project, which we are very proud of. The project started in the autumn of 2021.
Charité university hospital
Charité is one of the world’s leading university hospitals. As part of their research in geriatrics they work closely with the nursing home sector in Germany.
Charité started a 5-year project in 2018, with the aim of improving care through increased and focused use of technology. As part of the project, they picked out a number of themes where it was believed that technology could make a big difference. The incontinence area was one of them.
After researching the world market for technologies that can contribute to incontinence treatment, the choice fell on Wear&Care’s sensor solution for incontinence care. We are very much looking forward to contributing to Charité’s research, with our innovative solution, and to implementing our system at Charité in 2021.
Aarhus municipality
The municipality of Aarhus is known for its great interest in the use of technology within the care sector. They have at this point seen the potential for the use of technology in incontinence care.
The municipality has initiated change within the two areas, the social area, and the eldercare area, where Wear&Cares sensor technology for incontinence material is tested.
We are particularly pleased to carry out a test in both areas in the same municipality and gain a lot of experience with the differences that exist in the relation to the citizens’ and employees’ different needs and backgrounds.
Experiences and knowledge that we incorporate in our important implementation work to ensure a good anchoring of our solution among employees, citizens, and relatives.
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