ConnectCare, a software project that helps people in aged care facilities stay connected to their families and their communities, has been honoured at the national telecommunications industry awards.
The project, an initiative of Church Resources, won the broadband excellence award for introducing software as a service technology into the not-for-profit, aged care sector at the annual Australian Telecommunications User Group (ATUG) event in Sydney.
With six industry partners, Church Resources used high speed broadband and wireless and video conferencing technologies to create a unique way for the aged care sector to manage residents' records, and their clinical management and relationships with the patients' medical practitioners.
A Virtual Visiting program also has helped reconnect elderly residents to distant family members and friends by introducing them to video conferencing. Virtual Visiting has been piloted in three sites at Sawtell and Macksville in NSW and Caloundra on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
Church Resources CEO, Luke Kenny, said that the award recognised that while broadband and technology could not solve all the challenges in the aged care sector, they went a long way to helping health care professionals increase quality of care as well as quality of life for residents.
"In a sector where costs are spiralling, and the pressures on the facilities growing daily, this technology can bring economies of scale to the organisations, and in that way, frees more capital for their core mission - the care of our aged Australians," he said.
FULL STATEMENT
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ConnectCare