Mental health crisis: caring for caregivers

The NHS mental health budget in England for 2017/2018 amounted to almost £ 12 billion – about 10% of the Ministry of Health's budget – and the mental health crisis in the UK affects individuals of all ages and gender.

But how many incidents of depression, stress, and chronic anxiety could be avoided?

For all those involved in care – from caregivers to agencies, from family members to clients – many aspects of the current care model add significantly to daily stress levels. Clearly, in an industry struggling with chronic levels of lack of resources, staff are subjected to high levels of stress.

But there are many other issues that also need to be understood, from uncertainty about caregivers before each client visit, to overwhelming responsibility and lack of control over the situation, all known problems to influence mental health.

Helen Dempster, Chief Visionary Leader at Karantis360, discusses the role of IoT and AI in transforming the care sector and protecting the mental health of caregivers.

Well-being of caregivers

Society's expectations of all those involved in the care sector, from caregivers to nurses and doctors, are enormous – and the impact on mental health is worrisome: 84% of caregivers are stressed, 78% are Anxious and 55% suffer from depression because of their caring role. For caregivers, it is the constant fear of the unknown that can generate significant stress levels.

Whether to visit a client for the first time, or to arrive at the door of a client with dementia and unpredictable mental and physical abilities, including the discovery of a deceased client, even the frustration to traffic, parking and looking for a new address, every day new set of stressful events.

In addition, while the safety of caregivers is obviously a concern, due to a combination of funding issues and lack of resources, most visits are solo. Add to that the challenge of trying to bring about the administration and relationships in a 30-minute care visit, and the process becomes intrinsically unsatisfactory – for the caregiver and the client.

Of course, anxiety badociated with care is far from being limited to frontline workers – for health care agencies, the issue of "dumping" creates very high levels of stress. Too many families simply do not understand the mission of the care agency service – which is usually not 24 hours a day – a problem that can be exacerbated by the failure to notice or accept that the care needs of family member have grown. The result is stress and unhappiness for everyone involved.

Remove uncertainty

There are simple steps that can radically improve the overall experience for the caregiver – and, by default, for the client. The use of digital technology to reduce administration times and increase customer contact time is an obvious step, improving the experience of both parties. But this is only the beginning: the basic requirement is a way to better share information between caregivers and to have much more information about the well-being of the client than one can ever get in a short time. visit.

IoT sensors, from temperature and humidity to movement, can give insight into the customer's daily behavior, creating a picture of the usual activity. Combined with an artificial intelligence algorithm, once a model has been confirmed, the solution can immediately detect whether the behavior of a client does not match the norm – if it happens over and over again during the night, potentially indicating a urinary tract infection, or failing to activate the system. kettle, even get up, which could indicate a more urgent health problem.

For caregivers, having a quick overview of each client's recent activity on a mobile device before entering the home is incredibly powerful, especially when combined with notes – which can be pronounced in the device – during most recent care visits. For example, has the client had an episode in the past few days? Refused or unable to get out of bed?

If the system is used to the maximum of its capabilities, not only will the caregiver have an up-to-date view of the client's activity, but any abnormal behavior will immediately create an alert for the care agency. Essentially, the caregiver is forewarned of any potential problem with a client – eliminating the uncertainty that has such devastating effects on mental health.

Transforming treatment

In addition to ensuring that alerts give rise to priority visits, one of the other important benefits of this process is the improved level of care. As caregivers spend less time filling out forms, the quality of care will improve, a key issue to resolve as solitary individuals are more likely to suffer from depression.

In addition, with timely and relevant customer information, help is aware of potential problems and can solve them. For example, if a customer has spent the entire night standing, he is likely to be cranky and unbalanced. But the sensors ensure that the caregiver knows that the client has not slept, which makes it possible to ask the right questions during the care visit to determine the reason – and possibly to detect a problem before it becomes more critical.

In addition, this information can be shared with named family members, allowing health care agencies to address the "dumping" problem that is stressful and upsetting for caregivers and family members. By harnessing IoT sensors and real-time view, shared responsibility can be seamlessly integrated, with a smooth transfer of responsibilities as soon as the care agency closes, eliminating confusion and ensuring that the patient is safe. the entire model of the duty of care is transparent and well understood by each stakeholder.

Conclusion

Mental health is becoming an increasingly important aspect of employee well-being, and while health care providers face the additional recruiting and retention challenge created by Brexit, it has never been important to address the increasing levels of stress that affect the mental health of caregivers. probably contribute to the high number of people leaving the industry.

Caregivers need support. They need more information, better information and, most importantly, more chances to worry about it. No more time to write notes while preparing a cup of tea for the client; do not worry about forgetting the key issues or neglecting the signs of poor health of the client.

With simplified reports, voice and clearly guided, you get a complete picture of the customer's behavior, with the backup of alerts generated by the AI ​​in response to a change in customer activity. The main areas of stress, namely uncertainty and responsibility, are: addressed.

By leveraging digital technology and the Internet of Things to provide a real-time view of customer behavior and minimize tedious administrative tasks, healthcare agencies can reduce stress and free caregivers more time to do the job. they like: take care.