Predictive care
be monitored, and the likelihood of a distressing incident occurring can be tracked and procedures put in place to potentially avoid this happening. This not only benefits the care service with dealing with a potential emergency and the person supported in care from experiencing distress but also the care team. Further to this, distressing incidents may impact staff retention.
What could this mean for people supported in care? Predictive care could mean even earlier interventions in healthcare. With this comes potentially less invasive care and support and a higher chance of treatment success. It also means that there could be less of a negative psychological impact for people supported in care services. There is a risk of conditions snowballing as they can impact each other. Where a fall impacts a person’s mobility, this can increase the risk of skin damage which in turn increases the risk of infection. Predictive care has the potential to impact falls management, distressing behaviour and more which can lead to less distressing incidents. With less distressing incidents and the capability for early intervention, the result is likely to be happier and healthier people supported by care. Predictive analytics may also be able to suggest the likelihood of a person developing medical conditions, such as cardiac problems, diabetes, having a stroke or COPD. With lifestyle changes and medical advice earlier in the process, some of these conditions may be delayed, lessened or even prevented entirely. Keeping people mobile is proven to
reduce the effects of other co-morbidities often associated with aging, and with a population more inflicted with long term conditions than ever before, managing these effectively is integral to maintaining a good quality of life. The outcomes of people supported by care are a huge focus in health and social care and the introduction of predictive analytics could be life changing and transform the potential outcomes for those receiving care.
What could this mean for the future of health and social care? Currently, data can be used to ascertain norms for the people you support and cohorts of people , cross reference this with known risk factors attributed to certain conditions and previous known adverse
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The abundance of data that now exists can totally transform the future of the sector
events and tying this information together in order to predict what could happen. With the potential for predictions, the future of health and social care will be transformed from a reactive approach to a proactive one. Predictive care has the potential to better inform and guide care decisions by using real time data and create a care delivery model that suits the people being supported and their outcomes.
There are current challenges faced within health and social care that may benefit from the use of predictive care. Missed appointments and hospital readmissions for example. Where a person is identified as a risk to missing an appointment, due to reliance on patient transfers or are someone who has a habit of not attending, steps can be taken to attempt to counteract the risk by providing more support. For hospital readmissions, predictive care has the potential to analyse who is likely to be readmitted to hospital and why, allowing this problem to be tackled before the person is readmitted, benefitting the service and the person at the same time. Digital is transforming the sector at pace and as a result, the sector now holds a vast amount of data from an increasing number of sources. The rise in digital usage can be contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced home working and required less contact methods of working. The pandemic also allowed predictive care to be tested through helping hospitals and trusts prepare for potential surges in hospital admissions. This information was also used to define public health strategies by local authorities and the government, advising on lockdown measures. This same information could be used to allocate resources to appropriate areas if a surge is imminent or a department has breached on their waiting list. The ability to share information between integration partners is another key aspect of predictive care. Integrating is key, without the ability to communicate between other organisations, information may be lost and form an incomplete overview of data. The use of predictive care could reduce
the strain on the NHS by better managing time, healthcare professionals and reduce
high level interventions by analysing the data available.
The emergence of predictive care analytics paints a compelling picture of the future of healthcare. With the potential to revolutionise diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, this approach holds the power to enhance outcomes for people supported in care and reshape healthcare systems. While there is still much to be addressed, the promise of predictive care shows a future where healthcare is not just about healing the sick, but about safeguarding wellness and quality of life for all.
How to get started with predictive care Using a digital care planning platform is a simpler way to record and report on the data collected by care teams when delivering care. The reporting functionality will allow you to manually go through the data and make connections between events and incidents. Getting used to the manual process and working out what events may lead to an incident and how established risk and historical data go hand in hand will set you up for the introduction and advancement that is predictive care.
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Carrie McDonald
Carrie McDonald is the Clinical Safety Officer (CSO) and Clinical Lead for Nourish Care, a market leader in digital social care information and insights management. Carrie is a registered general nurse with over 10 years’ experience in health and social care, previously working predominantly as a senior operations manager within the private care sector for care home providers. In her role as CSO, Carrie oversees clinical risk assessment while working within the product team contributing to the design and development of the Nourish platform.
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com November 2023
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