Heritage Care is a leading provider of residential aged care in Australia and our commitment is demonstrated by being one of the first aged care providers in Australia to establish the SleepSense bed sensor – an innovative technology that fosters the care, safety and dignity of our residents.
Our newly opening residence in Northcote, Victoria features both the ground-breaking SleepSense bed sensor as well as the Talius data platform that collects and monitors resident data to create improved health and safety outcomes for our residents, while preserving their autonomy through the care process.
Data is monitored continuously and transferred to the Talius platform in real-time into tailored dashboards that show both vital signs and monitors sleep cycles of our residents.
What is the Talius SleepSense bed sensor?
The SleepSense is an innovative, non-wearable bed sensor that addresses the most critical areas of senior safety—fall prevention and health emergency alerts.
The bed sensor is placed under the leg or wheel of a residents’ bed and uses high-precision sensors and an algorithm to provide real-time information on a residents’ condition.
SleepSense will know whether a resident is in or out of bed or if they fail to return to bed in a reasonable time. The sensor also provides an analysis on their sleep quality, heart rate and breathing rate. The sensor can even automatically switch on a nightlight when a resident gets out of bed to help them see their way to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
SleepSense is designed to detect the body movement and vital signs of a resident no matter where or how they sleep in the bed. It monitors movement so can help monitor pressure areas.
The nursing staff receive updated data reports every 10 minutes and are sent an immediate notification alert to the Talius call system if anything isn’t quite right. This allows our team to provide a high level of quality care that is backed by data.
What benefits does the SleepSense have for our Residents?
Ailiene Faccin is the Residence Manager at Heritage Northcote and has been involved in the establishment of the SleepSense and Talius platform. She explains that the benefits the SleepSense technology provides is unmatched to the previously used sensor mats.
“It provides a sense of safety for the Residents and their loved ones. Being an electronic system, sensor mats are redundant. We know can these fail and rely on carers ensuring they are functional each and every time they check on a resident.”
The SleepSense is placed under the leg or wheel of the bed itself and provides the Resident with quality uninterrupted sleep that can be monitored from the nurses’ station. “This means we do not have to intrude on their privacy and preserves a Resident’s dignity unless necessary” explains Ailiene. Real time data can be reviewed and shared to provide a holistic approach to care.
Peace of mind for families
It is paramount that quality of care remains at a high standard. The data collected from the SleepSense can be checked and shared with you to ensure your family member is receiving the best possible care.
“Take pressure injuries, it’s knowing that pressure care has been performed in line with the residents care plan” says Ailiene.
“The system informs us of the quality of sleep the Resident. So, if the family came to me and said Mum’s been disturbed 20 times overnight because the carers keep coming in to check on her, we can actually check the SleepSense data for that night but also the trends over say a month which may highlight the need for a care review.”
SleepSense provides complete peace of mind for families of vulnerable Residents, with families able to view real-time data on personalised dashboards.
Ailiene: “When we have a care plan conference with a family and the Resident, we can show them the data and they can see what’s happening with their loved one.”
Giving Residents a better night’s sleep
Traditionally, nurses have had to check on Residents regularly through the night, disturbing their sleep which can impact on their overall wellbeing.
Even using the traditional bed mat sensors, residents still have to be routinely disturbed and sensor mats have to be checked throughout the night as Ailiene describes.
“I’ve had Residents previously where they just do not want to be disturbed overnight. But because we have a duty of care to the Resident to make sure they’re safe it’s really about having those conversations with the Resident about dignity and explaining the risks to them, or having to check in through the early hours of the morning.”
“Whereas with the SleepSense we don’t have to disturb them overnight. They’re able to sleep through the night and not be disturbed.”
Reduced risk of falls and other health risks
SleepSense provides reassurance and safety for Residents, families and support staff – all from under the bed.
It seamlessly collects and tracks data which is also encrypted and securely stored to protect each Resident’s privacy.
SleepSense is also integral in improving health outcomes for aged care Residents and can assist with reducing the risk of Resident falls.
In the event of a medical emergency, the Talius platform provides immediate intervention in a medical emergency. A notification alert is sent to the caring staff alerting them of a potentially dangerous situation. The notification alerts can even trigger a 24/7 emergency response such as an ambulance.
“It provides the safety for the Resident and gives us data to better analyse the Resident’s needs,” says Ailiene.
The Talius platform gives the entire Heritage Care team visibility of all Residents on a single screen with real-time data and provides proactive alerts to allow our team to avert a potential fall.
Talius is a digital solution that solves the problem of losing paperwork and ensures all staff are fully briefed of all Resident’s current needs at any given moment. We take our care compliance seriously, which is why we’ve invested in Talius and the SleepSense technology to achieve outstanding compliance every day.
It’s technology that Residence Manager Ailiene is behind 100 per cent.
“I’m very excited about it, in fact I think it’s fantastic. I’ve been in aged care for about 14 years and I’ve never seen it before. This is a great example of how Heritage Care embraces new technology to promote high quality care,” says Ailiene.
“The SleepSense provides safety and peace of mind to let our residents live with comfort, dignity and vitality.”
Technology provided by a trusted source
HSC Technology and Globe SmartLife are the two trusted enterprises we have partnered with to provide the SleepSense and Talius platforms. They bring a shared purpose: to improve outcomes for aged care residents and support staff. Both names are well respected in the aged care and business sectors in Australia.
Graham Russell is the CEO of HSC Technology and says the SleepSense puts an end to ineffective 1980’s sensor bed mats that are uncomfortable, noisy, often trigger false alarms and only last up to 12 months.
“We now have a situation where we have sensors like that are autonomously collecting information that goes to the Talius platform. In that platform we can then create alerts that proactively support the care team,” says Graham.
The Talius platform and sensors works to solve four big challenges faced by the aged care sector: compliance, staff engagement, communication with family, and resident autonomy. Each of these challenges have been identified by Heritage Care as critical to providing quality residential care, making the decision to partner with HSC Technology and Globe SmartLife an alignment of our values.
Heritage Care is proud to be one of the early adopters of this revolutionary technology.
“The beautiful part is that for the Residents they can now actually have more privacy. The system is continuously monitoring in a way that is very simple with three small devices: battery operated waterproof sensors, small anchors and the SleepSense we have collected more information that any residents has ever had,” says Graham.
“Talius is the next generation aged care platform, it’s already being used by the best in the business.”
Contact the friendly team at Heritage Northcote to view the SleepSense technology first hand.
Call the home on (03) 8372 4888.