Alcove Covid-19 Virtual Care Case Studies (6/7) - Essex Cares Ltd in Essex County: George's Story

As part of Loneliness week we are bringing you beautiful examples every day of how the Alcove Video Carephone is being used to connect families, carers and communities.

This is case study 6: George's Story, provided by his care provider ECL, a provider based in Essex County.

George, 90, has been living with his daughter Diane and her husband in Clacton for five years and she is his main carer. He used to live in Dorset but moved in with Diane so that she could be there to support him and also to be close to his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

George struggles with balance, walks with a stick and is experiencing the early stages of dementia. But Diane says he is otherwise well and enjoys being with his family.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, George used to attend Millicent’s Day Centre, run by Essex Cares Limited (ECL), twice a week and enjoyed cooked lunches, art and playing cards.

He also used to go to respite care, in a local care home, four times a year so that Diane and her husband could visit other family members and go on breaks.

Unfortunately after the day centre closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, George became more withdrawn and Diane saw a change in his condition.

 When Theresa, George’s support worker at Millicent’s Day Centre, suggested he receive an Alcove Video Carephone they jumped at the chance. George had already told her that he was getting bored and missed the centre very much, so she thought he would be the ideal candidate to receive the device.

 George now receives two calls a week from Theresa on his Video Carephone which he describes as a ‘welcome interlude to his day to break up the monotony’ and he especially loves seeing the day centre staff and doing his exercises by video.

Theresa says: “The Video Carephone helps him - and us - stay connected face-to-face, preventing isolation where we can. I would love to see more of our customers use the device.”

Diane says that George is enjoying the sessions so much that he is keen to have an additional call and that it is really helping his mood and mobility. It also gives her a bit of respite.

 She says: “The Video Carephone is absolutely great as he gets to see Theresa and have a chat. They are really nice people at the day centre and always happy to see him. He especially enjoys the exercises as it keeps him active.

 She continues, “We have not used anything like this before, the set up was easy and we can see the long term benefits of the device. For example, we like the idea of setting medication reminders and prompts and also to connect to more friends and family. Even after coronavirus lockdown has eased, we would consider how this could help Dad.”