Leeds takes action to prevent elderly moving into care homes

Following the push in recent years to reduce the number of people living in care homes and increase independence in later life, Leeds City Council has taken a number of measures to address the situation. A warehouse on the New Dock industrial estate has been converted to be an assisted-living hub, where older people can apply for blue badges and request help with home adaptations such as curved stairlifts.

The new warehouse is set to be the future of support for the elderly, and will also include the tele-care response team, which is connected to 16,000 homes in order to monitor alerts. This includes devices that raise an alarm when a person has fallen over and GPS tracker systems that show when a person has left their designated ‘safe-zone’.

Making lives better for the elderly while also saving money

By using this system known as tele-care, the number of times carers are needed to go into homes of the elderly have been reduced, but more importantly the amount of people admitted to hospital and care homes have also been lowered. As stated by a BBC news article, research conducted by the council has suggested that the tele-care system has meant that up to £2,300 a year is saved following each individual installation.

As well as meaning that more money can be spent on further care services due to the savings, funding that is usually spent on nursing homes has also been reduced by nearly a tenth in the past three years.

Alongside the tele-care system, Leeds has also introduced extra care housing that is designed for people with varying needs. There are currently 200 units in the city, but the council is hoping to increase this number to 800 over the coming years, which will mirror retirement villages that have become popular in other countries such as the US and New Zealand.

This content was written by Emily Bray. Please feel free to visit my Google + profile to read more stories.