Debtset – Bailiff-Sheriff Aust MEMBER Login
Personalised care for the aged boosted by computer comms
By Leon Gettler >>
A COMPUTERISED care plan is improving quality of life for aged and dementia care residents.
Person Centred Software is used exclusively in aged care facilities. Traditionally, nursing staff members would be delivering care and at the end of their shift, they would sit down at a computer and evidence their care.
Person Centred Care changes that through technology, with a care app for carers to evidence their care at the point of delivery. There is also a Care Monitor for managers monitoring care in real time. This creates data driven decision and better care for the residents and their families.
The company also has another piece of technology called the Relatives Gateway, allowing family members to log in and be part of that care. They can send video links and sign off on care plans. 
This is all done with the approval of the resident and what they want their family member to see.
“Traditionally we see the eldest daughter is the care taker of mum or dad living in aged care so if the resident wants that daughter to see an activity summary and perhaps a hygiene chart, they can actually have access to see that,” Person Centred Software CEO, Tammy Sherwood told Talking Business.
MEETING PANDEMIC CHALLENGE
The app was adjusted with COVID-19. As the country went into lockdown, Person Centred Software went to its customers and asked what they wanted. It introduced a coronavirus slider to evidence symptoms of the disease very quickly.
It was also able to do contact tracing to see which carer had been in contact with the resident. Family members wanted to stay in contact, so a new feature was put into the Relatives Gateway allowing residents to video conference with up to 25 members of their family.
The service also gauges the resident’s happiness level via a ‘happiness indicator’.
“So the family member can see that mum is happier in the afternoon, not so happy in the morning,” Ms Sherwood said. “Maybe I’ll increase my visits in the morning to encourage her to do more activities.”
SOFTWARE MEETS VITAL NEEDS
Ms Sherwood has been working in the aged care industry for a considerable time. She first saw Person Centred Software four years ago when she was on a study tour of the UK. She was fascinated by it when she saw it in operation at a facility in Battersea Place in London.
Sometime later, she was introduced to the co-founder of Person Centred Software who was visiting Brisbane for 36 hours. She was introduced to him and he asked her to re-sell his product.
She said the technology gave residents a better quality of care. It allowed them to plan for residents’ needs: what time they wanted to get up, when they wanted to have a wash, what staff members they wanted to work with them.
“If we’ve got a resident that was a car collector, we can match them up with carers that have interests in cars,” Ms Sherwood said.
“Because they’re not documenting all of this care at the end of their shifts, carers get all this extra time to spend with the residents, talking to them and doing thigs they want to do with them.”
CASE STUDY SUCCESS
Ms Sherwood said the company conducted a case study last year with Southern Cross Care in South Australia, the firm’s largest client, with the help of Flinders University to examine the data.
The case study found a reduction in critical incidents, better outcomes for residents and staff had an hour extra every day with residents, through the use of Person Centred Software systems.
Person Centred Software operates in 75 aged care facilities after just two years of operation. It has just gone live with a dementia specific facility in Tasmania.
The company has a strategy of integrating with subject matter specialists like, for example, specialists in pain assessment, or medication management providers.
It develops its road map by listening to customers, their families and the carers.
www.personcentredsoftware.com/au/
Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness. 
ends
