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. 2021 Nov 6;6(2):153-173.
doi: 10.1007/s41666-021-00108-5. eCollection 2022 Jun.

The Impact on Ambulance Mobilisations of an Increasing Age Profile of Telecare Service Users Receiving Advanced Proactive, Personalised Telecare in Spain-a Longitudinal Study 2014-2018

Wendy Hugoosgift Contreras  1 , Ester Sarquella  2 , Eva Binefa  3 , Mar Entrambasaguas  3 , Anette Stjerne  4 , Peter Booth  5
Affiliations

The Impact on Ambulance Mobilisations of an Increasing Age Profile of Telecare Service Users Receiving Advanced Proactive, Personalised Telecare in Spain-a Longitudinal Study 2014-2018

Wendy Hugoosgift Contreras et al. J Healthc Inform Res. .

Abstract

Advanced proactive personalised telecare services in Spain have helped service users to live independently in their own homes for longer. Concern was however noted regarding potential impacts on ambulance mobilisations as time in the service, and mean age at cessation, increased. The purpose of this study was to investigate these impacts. A longitudinal study of a telecare service user population in Spain (n = 202.1 k to 247.9 k) was undertaken using anonymised operational data collected in the delivery of proactive and personalised telecare services over the period 2014-2018. For the studied population, ambulance mobilisation on a per-person/per-annum (pp/pa) basis reduced despite the increasing age profile at cessation and with the characteristics of the population at registration remaining otherwise similar over the period. The study identified the positive correlation coefficient between ambulance mobilisations and service user's dependency levels, and marginal negative correlation in older age bands. In conclusion, the increasing age at cessation has not correlated with an increased proportion of higher dependency service users. Indeed, the share of those over 85 years in the high dependency level decreased. This indicates that the changes in the telecare service which appear to have contributed to increased time living independently may also have helped ensure those continuing to live independently remain in lower risk bands.

Keywords: Ambulance mobilisations; Home monitoring; Person-centred; Proactive telecare; Telecare; Telehealth.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mean age of service users at registration and cessation
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Levels of Telecare
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Share of cessations by age band
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Mobilisations per person per annum (pp/pa)
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Fig. 5
Total ambulance mobilisations by age band
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Ambulance mobilisations per person/per annum, by age band
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ignetica research for Tunstall investigating the benefits realised through proactive and personalised telecare in Spain between 2011 and 2018, reported for Tunstall in August 2019. Summary findings published in “The transformational potential of telecare” Tunstall white paper May 2020. https://www.tunstall.co.uk/resources/white-papers/2020/06/telecare-trans.... Accessed 28/10/20
    1. IESE Business School, University of Navarra, PPP for Cities, BARCELONA TELECARE PROGRAM (SPAIN), Josep Navarro, Miquel Rodríguez Planas, Francesc Trillas, Joan Enric Ricart & Jordi Salvado, July 2017, https://www.iese.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ST-0454-E.pdf. Accessed 28/10/20
    1. Public Policy Projects, Connecting Services, Transforming Lives: The Benefits of Technology Enabled Care Services, https://publicpolicyprojects.com/blog/publications/connecting-services-t... pp47–50. Accessed 28/10/20
    1. EPSA - European Public Sector Award, Local Telecare Service of the Barcelona Provincial Council and the Municipalities of the Barcelona Province, https://www.epsa-projects.eu/index.php/Local_Telecare_Service_of_the_Bar.... Accessed 28/10/20.
    1. Fundación Salud y Envejecimiento of the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Health and Ageing Foundation of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, FSiE-UAB), Study on the impact of the telecare service on elderly people and their family, 2016

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