Cost of Telehealth/Telecare?

Hippy_Hamster

I am looking into care for my Dad. Keeping him at home (a bungalow) is of upmost importance to my sisters and I. He suffers from diabetes and had a minor stroke 18 months ago, still alert and with it, but unsteady on his feet and needs a frame to walk. We are fortunate enough to have all 3 daughters in reasonable proximity so we can see him once a week each at least. We know he will need carers in the morning and evening for dressing and getting in and out of bed, but ideally we would like to keep him at home and comfortable. His local health authority won't pay for any telehealth/telecare system. Does anybody know how much they cost privately? is it an initial cost or monthly or both?

wolfehouse

i would be asking for an ot assessment to get the local council to pay for one- it has to be cheaper than him going into supported living. in my area the council charge £3 per week but nothing at all if you get a home help service from them. it's infuriating that different places offer different services.

age uk do one with different options-so different prices
but you can call them for free and get a quote

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/buy/help-at-home/age-uk-personal-alarms/

in scotland some of the housing associations do them (eg bield)
afaik each company has different pricing structure- some charge for the unit and installation and some only charge a monthly fee. depends on which bits you are wanting.

scottnsharon

Hi Hippy Hampster, as Wolfehouse says the O/T is a good port of call, and should be able to get your dad assessed for adaptations to his bungalow if he needs them like grab rails, and attachments to help him get in and out of bed more easily (if he hasnt got them already). They should be able to access the falls team to do a risk assesment - which could also be helpful to your case. The local council should be able to advise you on costs of home help and also if they operate a call-system. I dont know much about it but they will probably base any costings on your dads financial circumstances. I assume he gets attendance allowance or dla and if his care needs have increased then the dwp should be informed as this may reflect positively in his award. I dont know enough to advise you properly, but 0800 882200 benefit advice line - help and advice for disabled people is a handy number to find out if your dad is getting what he is entitled to. Best of luck with it all, and I hope you manage to keep your dad happy and independent for as long as possible.

Brassedoff

I am glad I am not your parent. Let them move in with you, get the family to contribute to a fund that makes up for lost earnings. Reading posts like this make me want to live in the med, where parents are venerated and remembered for the 25 odd years they gave up bringing up and nurturing their offspring.

rotoguys

Hippy_Hamster wrote: »

I am looking into care for my Dad. Keeping him at home (a bungalow) is of upmost importance to my sisters and I. He suffers from diabetes and had a minor stroke 18 months ago, still alert and with it, but unsteady on his feet and needs a frame to walk. We are fortunate enough to have all 3 daughters in reasonable proximity so we can see him once a week each at least. We know he will need carers in the morning and evening for dressing and getting in and out of bed, but ideally we would like to keep him at home and comfortable. His local health authority won't pay for any telehealth/telecare system. Does anybody know how much they cost privately? is it an initial cost or monthly or both?

This posting has given me a thought. Even though we are a couple, which is obviously different, we are both disabled. It is very hard for both of us to look after each other.
I, like your dad, am also Type 1 diabetic but also suffer from PAD.
This makes walking any distance impossible. My wife has Arthralgia of multiple joints, which makes even the simplest of tasks hard to cope with.

We do receive a means tested benefit, and are wondering if we should be contacting the Council to see what help there is available + the idea of the telephone alert would be a godsend. I invariably seem to need emergency hospital attention at 4 am!!

I am going to contact them to see what they can offer that would make our lives that much easier to live.

Thanks once again for bringing this subject up - I never realised that that type of help was available.

rotoguys

Brassedoff wrote: »

I am glad I am not your parent. Let them move in with you, get the family to contribute to a fund that makes up for lost earnings. Reading posts like this make me want to live in the med, where parents are venerated and remembered for the 25 odd years they gave up bringing up and nurturing their offspring.

As a disabled elderly couple with children, the last thing that we would want to do is to live with our children. Not only have they got a life to live, but we still want to be independent and 'do our own thing'.

Hippy_Hamster

Thanks for all the help guys, glad most of you understand the situation.
As my dad's independence is the most important thing, one of us moving him into our home and not working to be able to look after him doesn't solve the problem.
wolfehouse I am going look at the age uk website this afternoon. He had an ot assessment after his stroke and telecare wasn't mentioned. I will push to get them back.
I found a page on you tube the other day, thought they might be of interest to you rotoguys it is called youtube.com/user/TelehealthUK and has information and case studies on it

Royhjudd

I've just been reading this thread and it has answered some of my questions. I'm 70 and had a heart attack last year and been diagnosed with heart disease. Like many of you I still really value my independence but am interested in hearing about ways that I can monitor my health safely at home, such as telehealth, so that I don't have to move in with family or into a care home. Thanks for this information.

m.fulton

My Father currently has a telecare system, the lifeline connect system. It is provided by his local authority and he pays a subscription fee of around £30/year. there is a great YouTube page on telecare (user TelecareUK)
I am looking into getting a telehealth system as well, he has type 2 diabetes and I know cutting down on doctors visits would help a lot (save money).
Does anyone know how the telehealth equipment is funded, I have seen a lot of press about 3 million people getting in the next 5 years, will the NHS pay for it or will there be a similar subscription fee to the telecare systems?

[Deleted User]

3 daughters living close by and you all manage to visit ONCE a week?
WOW