Assistive Technology Position Paper

A person living with dementia has set out some principles on what he believes assistive technology should mean for him, but also others:

“It is our right to be able to enjoy our freedom, for as long as possible, and if that means using assistive technology, then go ahead.

“Many of these gadgets are very expensive and this alone puts many people off, as many cannot afford to spend this amount of money when there is no one locally who can give support and help when needed.”

This position paper has been developed for people with dementia, carers and those who have a professional or personal interest in the area of assistive technology. (more…)

The King’s Fund’s latest report out today ‘Integrating health and social care: Where next?‘ has called for more integration and joint working, together with a single performance framework to ensure that NHS and social care services work together to improve outcomes for patients and service users.

The report says that the government’s NHS reforms offer an opportunity to integrate health and social care, but cautions that plans for separate outcomes frameworks for the NHS, social care and public health could threaten effective joint working at a local level, reducing benefits for patients and service users. The Fund is calling for the frameworks to be aligned, with a view to creating a single outcomes framework for all three services.

The report also highlights the potential for new health and wellbeing boards to improve joint working between health and social care.

The forthcoming Quality Standards (to be issued June 2011) for the provision of community equipment address some of the issues set out in the King’s Fund report. The Quality Standards pull together the commissioning and provision aspects of service delivery across health and social care, ensuring a whole-systems joint working approach is taken to deliver better outcomes. The Quality Standards incorporate the duties and responsibilities of the Health and Wellbeing Boards and GP commissioners when commissioning the provision of community equipment. Community Equipment Solutions welcomes this timely report. (more…)