PRIORITISING INDIVIDUAL NEEDS O NHS SOUTH EAST TRIAL OF MY AMEGO INTELLIGENT MONITORING IN THE PERSON’S OWN HOME MyAmego intelligent monitoring is now widely used as an essential tool for progressive care homes – eager to facilitate safe, independent movement for dementia residents. Now MyAmego announces the conclusion of an exciting trial in people’s own properties. Conducted by Coventry University in the NHS South East region, the trial sought a technology which ensured people with dementia would be able to maintain independence, whilst carers might realise a reduced care burden. Analysing the focus groups’ and interview data before the trial, both professionals and carers saw key benefits in the home-based MyAmego system: ·– enabling the person with dementia to stay at home for longer ·– ease of use for people with dementia and their carers ·– active risk management within real time ·– increased independence for the person with dementia and their carer. User friendly, unobtrusive monitoring Trial participants felt that the MyAmego system was easy to understand and easy to implement for the person with dementia. Passive monitoring like this was thought to be much more user friendly and useful when compared with other technologies where the person with dementia has to be actively involved. e.g. a pendant/community alarm All participants identified the significant benefit that the MyAmego system would bring via its real time alerts of potential risks, which are sent direct to carers – where other systems have no real time risk management function. The discreet, non-intrusive nature of the sensors was also thought to be an advantage ; giving a single carer ‘multiple eyes’ was identified as a most positive attribute of the system. Carers were pleased with the choice of options available to receive the risk alerts – with some participants preferring pagers and others mobile phones. Participants felt that the MyAmego system had the potential to increase independence for the person with dementia, by allowing them to be monitored unobtrusively. It would also offer some freedom to both the carer and the person with dementia; a little bit of time on their own, knowing that if an identified risk arose the carer would be alerted. Professionals also agreed that the system would support the government's current re-ablement agenda in supporting independence. The trialists One of the trialists was a lady living by herself with two sons living nearby, who commented: “When mum had a bit of a fall in the bathroom, the system had alerted us to the extent of time she had been in the bathroom – as the alert was programmed to trigger after 30 minutes. Also, my brother stopped worrying about mum going outside. With the MyAmego system we knew when she was going outside and we were able to set an alarm trigger for 8pm. There were a couple of times when mum did go out after 8pm and we were able to get down and find her wandering in the cold. Mum knows that if she had a fall, she would only have to lie there a little while before we would get to her.” Another trialist emphasised the freedom aspects the system provides:  “A lot of people caring get quite stressed out because they just can’t leave the person with dementia.  When you know they are safe in the house, you can do other jobs without having to keep checking.  It eases your mind a little bit.”  MyAmego will update trial outcomes in due course and looks forward to other important announcements and enquiries in respect of individual residential use of the system.