|
OLDER PEOPLE STAY SAFE WITH KEY SAFE
OLDER people
in Wirral can now feel even safer in their homes with the
introduction of Age Concern’s new GE KeySafe™ facility for its
personal alarm system, Aid Call.
The Aid Call alarm
system has to date been installed for people that were able to
select 2 separate key holders (ideally living no more than 15-20
minutes away, at separate addresses) who could be contacted to come
to their aid if necessary. With 14% families in Wirral living more
than 30 miles away from their parents however, it is becoming
increasingly difficult for older people to meet this requirement.
Now, the GE KeySafe™ provides an alternative solution for those in
that situation, enabling emergency services to assist individuals
when friends and family are not available or close enough to help.
Mark Cheeseman from Age Concern Wirral commented:- “Adult
children of older parents worry that their mother or father will be
left stranded if they are not around. The Key Safe facility is a
simple way of offering peace of mind, reassuring the individual that
should they ever need any sort of assistance, help is always
available.”
The GE KeySafe™ allows the secure storage of a key accessed by use
of a manual pin code. The code is held by Aid Call’s response centre
and passed on to emergency services personnel or other authorised
respondents should an older person need instant help in their home –
in the event of a fall, for example.
“This year alone we have had just under 9,000˛ ‘no response’
calls into our response centre, which could lead us to ring the
police if we can’t get hold of any contacts. With nearly 150,000
older people never leaving their house and nearly half a million
never seeing their friendsł, the GE KeySafe™ facility will really
make a difference to helping older people stay independent in their
homes” adds Mark Cheeseman.
Aid Call provides reassurance for over 40,000 people every year and
the 24 hour emergency response system can be very quickly installed
at homes anywhere in the UK.
To find out more
about the Key Safe facility from Aid Call or to arrange a free no
obligation demonstration please contact Age Concern Wirral on 0151
649 1760.
 |
Will the internet ever take off?
SENIOR
managers across North West are missing easy opportunities to hone
their skills, as they fail to make use of the online resources
available to them. Figures show that technological and cultural
barriers have hindered widespread uptake of online learning in the
region, despite recognition of the business benefits it brings.
The findings, published by the Chartered Management Institute and
Centre for Applied Human Resource Research, confirm that internet
access is readily available for the majority of senior managers in
North West (90%). However, most (67%) admit they spend 30 minutes or
less using company intranets, the internet or e-learning materials
to solve any one problem. 58% in the region have made use of online
management resources in the past year and just 27% have participated
in a structured e-learning programme.
The research, outlined in a report called ‘Realising Value from
Online Learning’, is based on the views of 998 respondents. It
also includes in-depth interviews with 12 large employers. Key
findings include:
Business benefits:- 55% in North West suggest online learning
is a powerful resource for today’s busy executives as they can
‘dip
in and out as time allows’. 40% in the region also believe the ‘constant
availability for reference’ is a benefit and 25% focus on the
cost-effectiveness of online resources
Virtual reality:- 46% of respondents in North West claim
resistance to e-learning is caused by the ‘loss of the human
touch’. 74% still prefer face-to-face conversations and 34%
suggest ‘tutor-led’ development is most effective
Limited interaction:- 39% say they have ‘too many
distractions’ diverting them from PC-based development and 18%
in the region argue the content fails to ‘engage’ them. 25%
say they lack the motivation to complete online courses, with 22%
also blaming lack of ‘appropriate support’.
The most common goal
employers had for introducing online-learning was to enable
cost-effective, rapid and regular updates to employees. A key driver
in this process was the need for compliance training, with core
topics including discrimination and health & safety.
Jo Causon, director, marketing and corporate affairs at the
Chartered Management:- "There are clear business benefits to
adopting e-learning models, but until organisations provide engaging
development tools and support alongside these, uptake will continue
to be slow. However, the integration of social networking with other
online routes is likely to help this process, particularly as
personal development will go beyond the boundaries of
organisations.”
Analysing the online methods used by seniority level shows that more
junior managers use blogs, e-books, e-learning modules and social
networking sites than higher level managers. For example, 16% of
junior managers rely on blogs compared to 10% of directors and more
(40%) use e-learning modules than their senior counterparts (22%).
Causon adds:- “The results mean that those planning online
learning need to carefully consider their audience. Rather than rely
on online learning for all, they should use it as an extra resource
to traditional development programmes. In the medium-term richer
content will widen the use of e-learning, but only as part of a dual
blended solution.” |
