ECL customers benefit from Alcove technology
As part of an Essex County Council initiative with RETHINK Partners, ECL has been issued with 350 Alcove Carephones; 100 of which are being distributed to selected Day Opportunities customers and 250 to those that are currently receiving Reablement services.
The Alcove technology enables customers to receive remote care calls, as well as video contact with friends and family, through an easy-to-use touch screen display. ECL care staff have been supporting with the distribution, training and installation of the devices, which operate via a built-in 4G sim card.
As well as the benefit of direct contact with ECL care teams, the Carephones feature ‘Help@Home’, a service delivered by Alcove, which offers customers the option to talk to someone if they are lonely, information and support to access essential local services, Internet research and other online information that they cannot access independently.
As the majority of our Day Opportunities customers are currently having to stay at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Alcove technology enables us to maintain contact, and ensure that their allocated support workers are able to check-in on a regular basis. Many of our customers have expressed that they have been missing face-to-face contact due to social distancing, so being able to speak to their friends, family and key workers via the video chat is having a really positive impact on their wellbeing.
For ECL’s Reablement customers, the devices enable care workers to provide care calls remotely to those that are anxious about people entering their homes. Many customers are receiving a combination of both face-to-face and virtual care, which is helping to reduce unnecessary contact in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The devices have also been installed within ECL’s new temporary residential reablement property in Howe Green, so that customers who are currently unable to receive visitors can stay in touch with their loved ones.