Introduction
Care Sense is a project that looks at the development of a secure digital platform to help better provide, manage and monitor social care delivered by the council. The project is funded by Torfaen County Borough Council and run by a technology company – NQMCare Ltd.
The project aims to help people with care needs to achieve independent, comfortable living at their home for longer. It also aims to provide more efficient care services with less administration cost. Technology has a crucial role to play in delivering more efficient care services. We think that sharing data between citizens and organisations in a privacy-centric way will be key to better engage the community in this growing problem.
The Care Sense project is based on a new model for home care provision. It combines data from a number of sources to allow people receiving care to see the information that is relevant to them and share it with those that provide that care so that efficiencies made, and decisions regarding both short term and long term plans are based on the right set of information.
The system is in development and we are seeking views from lots of stakeholders to build a useful system.
Consent, Privacy and Security
Who will see my data?
CareSense uses a system of person-centric data ownership. That means that the person receiving care is the “owner” of all the data in the system. The technology then lets them share parts of it with whoever they choose. For example, they may want a family member to have access (or help them manage their account), or a care agency, or their local GP or social worker. Only those people or organisation who are granted access will be able to see the information.
Will my data be secure?
NQMCare specialises in secure data sharing and the system uses state of the art technology, like that used by banks or in the defence sector to keep the data secure.
Will my data be private?
Yes. The data will not be shared with any other organisations for marketing or a similar reason.
Does the system exist yet?
The system is still in development. However, elements it has been built for testing and to gain feedback.
CareTeam
The first element is an app and platform called Careteam, which has been designed to coordinate home care. It includes a ‘Whatsapp’ type informal group chat combined with more structured information such as notes, tasks, calendar, requests for transport and contacts to help organise care. It works with discrete home sensors which allow loved ones to remotely check that everything is OK. It also allows care visits to be recorded so that families and care providers can see that visits have been completed and the information about the visits.
Information can also be accessed via a web portal which has been designed to be used by social workers and administrators, where they have an overview of information and can receive escalated information.
Care Analytics
The second is Care Analytics – a system that analyses social care data held by the council to give tools to social workers and other staff to help them plan, sensitively prioritise and make decisions based on all the data available.
In order to help us design and build the system we are asking a range of questions so that we can better understand what future users of the system want and need.
The Questionnaire
The questionnaire below is voluntary. Any comments made will be used in the research work, and any use of this data will be anonymous and personal details removed. If you require any further information please contact: Hannah Dalton
CareSense Project Manager for NQMCare
Gamma House,
Enterprise Road,
Southampton Science Park,
Southampton, SO16 7NS
Email:
hannah@nquiringminds.com