Upskilling Domiciliary Care Workers to use remote monitoring tech to help people stay healthy at home

We have been awarded funding and are working with homecare providers and GP practices to deliver a project focusing on improving services for homecare recipients across various localities in Devon.

What is Kit4Care?

As part of this project we are trialling the use of a health and activity monitoring tool called the Whzan Blue Box. Our main goal is to help homecare recipients to stay well and comfortable at home and to make their homecare experience even better. 

The Blue Box is designed to support this goal as it enables care workers to monitor their clients health more closely and flag any concerns at an early stage.

Domiciliary Care Workers across Plymouth, Newton Abbot and Beaworthy have received training on how to take vital signs and pictures with the Blue Box. The tools in the Blue Box allow them to monitor their clients’ health by recording their respiratory rate, oxygen saturations, temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate and level of consciousness. These measurements can help to detect signs of a potential illness.

The mobile device provides a National Early Warning Score (NEWS-2), which informs which escalation procedure to follow. Information from the device is then passed directly to the relevant health care professionals, so that any issues can be treated quickly and effectively.

Domiciliary Care Workers will also receive training on Restore2, a physical deterioration and escalation tool used to spot early signs of ill health.

Why is this important?

Through a series of collaborative workshops we’ve conducted with both primary and social care, the benefits for patients, care professionals, as well as the wider health and social care system, have been considered as: 

• Reduced hospital admissions, readmissions to hospital, ambulance calls and presentation to A&E
• Increased confidence for care workers to communicate with colleagues in healthcare
• Opportunities for upskilling care workers
• Reassurance and increased sense of safety for homecare recipients and their care workers
• Strengthening relationship between primary and social care
• Local Standard Operating Protocol developed addressing local issues

Kit4Care does what it says on the tin. It doesn’t replace the vital caring role of care workers or GPs, it enhances it. It enables them to have better conversations which include the patient, offering reassurance and speedy responses to keep people as well as they can be.

John Bryant, Director of Integrated Care and Generative Relationships, Sentinel Healthcare Southwest Community Interest Company

Learn more

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact our Project Lead, Pia Barna (pia.barna@carecity.org) or our Programme Sponsor, John Bryant.