Case Studies

Mrs W –  Living independently with dementia

Mrs W lives in an independent villa in a retirement village. She has a very supportive family. Her son and daughter visit several times a week. Mrs W has a diagnosis of Alzheimers, which she has had for several years.

She has been a client with Nurse Maude since October 2014 and has used a Carousel electronic medication dispenser to support her with her medication provided through Nurse Maude by her local pharmacy. The carousel has worked amazingly well for her and means she has stayed independent with her medication despite her Alzheimers with very little support from Nurse Maude.

Mrs W is very active, walking around the local area and to the shops which are several km away. She also goes swimming and does Tai Chi. To manage some of the risks with such an active life the family got some simple location devises (Wander Trak and Tile) these could be used to locate Mrs W if she got lost for a period of time but would require services (LandSAR and Police) to be mobilised.

As her condition deteriorated, her family became increasingly concerned about her ability to return home safely. Increasing visits from Nurse Maude would not have helped as they would only identify if she was not home and not where she was.

In August 2017 following discussion with Mrs W and her family, Nurse Maude facilitated the trial of a Tracecare GPS medical alarm (Buddi) system. The Buddi clip was attached to Mrs W’s keys and Nurse Maude Support worker visits were put in place for a short period to help Mrs W learn how to place the clip on the charging base. Both her daughter and son were set up on the system to receive text and email alerts. They were also both given access to the internet portal to see where their Mum was with her Buddi clip. A virtual fence (geo-fence) was placed around the retirement village enabling Mrs W to walk around her neighbourhood without raising an alert. If she stepped outside this virtual fence a text and email would be sent to her son and daughter so they could locate her if they were worried.

Mrs W’s trial of the Tracecare GPS Medical Alarm went really well and despite Mrs W’s dementia she was able to learn how to charge the alarm unit independently with support. With both her daughter and son having login’s to the website portal they were able to locate their Mum if they were worried. What the Tracecare GPS Medical Alarm system was able to do was to provide her family with a clear picture of how much she was walking around her neighbourhood. In reality it evidenced that she was not walking as far and as often as they thought but when she did they were able to see were she had gone. On days she had regular activities they were able to tell that she was going out as planned.

As Mrs W’s dementia has progressed the level of support that Nurse Maude provide has been increased and extra support has been provided to ensure Mrs W keeps her clip on her Keyring. The family are happy that Mrs W has been able to stay in an independent villa for so long.

Hayden – 7 year old with Autism

Hayden is 7 years old and when he was 5, he was diagnosed with high spectrum Autism. He is non- verbal and non-social. I (Hayden's monther) was really stressed about the thought of Hayden going to school. He is at school for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week and the school itself if is on a very busy main road. There are lots of exits, three of which lead onto the main road, and others that lead to reasonably busy roads. Hayden has no road sense whatsoever. He has only just learned his full name and his address. Obviously if Hayden were to get out of school, he would be at real risk of not only being run over, but also getting lost and he would not be able to communicate with anyone.

Someone suggested that I get a medical alarm for Hayden. I knew that Hayden would not wear anything around his neck, wrist or ankle – so that discounted quite a few. The Tracecare GPS tracker, comes with a clip (that contains the GPS system). Initially we tried the clip in a pocket of Hayden’s shorts but he didn’t like it. We now put it into a pocket in a vest he puts on at morning tea and at lunchtime. He knows its there but its now just become part of his routine.

To be honest, it’s been a godsend. I cannot sing the praises of the Tracecare GPS tracking device highly enough. Hayden can now go to school and I don’t worry about him for 6 hours because I know he is trackable. If I need to locate him I can go online myself – or get help from Warren at Tracecare (who has been absolutely fantastic) and we can find him as well as see where he has been. To know that I can find him any time of the day is such a relief.

We have also put a ‘geo-fence’ around the school so if he goes outside the safe zone, my mother (Hayden’s grandmother), the school and myself all get a text and an email alerting us to this. If I do get an alert, I don’t worry as I know the school gets alerted too and they can start looking for him straight away. And I know we can find him as we can track his movements.

“I have absolutely no fear now.  I cannot recommend this device highly enough”

Deirdre – active 79 year old with heart issue

Deirdre lives alone and is totally independent. She is very active, plays Bridge, sings in a choir and gets involved in local politics. She walks most days, often in the hills behind her small town. Her daughters both live an hour away.

A couple of years ago Deirdre was diagnosed with a heart problem. She has a narrow artery that cannot be stented as the narrowing is at a junction of an artery. Her condition is manged with medication. Deirdre has been hospitalised before with palpitations. This can happen at any time.

Deirdre’s daughters, one of whom is a GP, were a bit concerned about her walking in the hills. Although Deirdre is very technically savvy and has her own Iphone, Deirdre’s daughters wanted to be able to find her if she fell or she had heart issues. They thought that if she was in trouble and needed help, she may not be able to use her phone.

The Tracecare GPS Medical Alarm has enabled this to happen. Deirdre can go wherever she likes and her daughters can see where she is. If Deirdre ever got into trouble, she can push the alert button on her wrist band and both daughters receive a text and an email with her whereabouts. The daughters can then go onto the website portal and locate exactly where Deirdre is and arrange for any necessary help she needs.

Heartbeat