Whole System Demonstrators (WSD)
From Capsil Wiki
Objectives: - The largest randomised control trial of 'Telecare' and 'Telehealth' in the world to date. Thousands of members of the public will be involved in this 2 year programme with individuals being recruited at three sites (Cornwall, Kent and Newham). The focus is on generating a large data set that shows how integration of technologies to health and social care can bring independence and well being, improve peoples quality of life and provide more cost effective ways to monitor and manage health conditions. Note the distinction drawn between 'Telecare' and 'Telehealth'. The former refers mainly to ageing and cognitive assistive living while the latter refers to clinical monitoring of known medical conditions.The participants are randomly allocated to either a control or intervention group. The GP practice that an individual belongs to will determine whether they are allocated to the control or intervention group and have the equipment installed at the start or 12 months out. The GP practices that are part of the trial have been randomly split by the evaluation team into 4 groups which are matched to provide a balanced mix of practice sizes, disease prevalence and demographics.
- Intervention Group - Half the people on the trial will be in the intervention group and have either the Telecare or Telehealth equipment installed depending on their health or social care needs.
- Control Group - These will receive usual care for 12 months.
- Eligibility - To be eligible to take part in the trial individuals must meet the relevant Telecare or Telehealth eligibility criteria.
- Telecare - These include some of the following; ongoing need for night sitting, need for certain number of day care hours, high risk of falling, cognitive impairment or confusion and nearby caregiver who has difficulty with the responsibility of providing care.
- Telehealth - People over the age of 18 who have been diagnosed with Heart Failure, COPD and Diabetes and required some level of hospitalisation over the previous 12 months.
