Delta View Habilitation Centre is home to 292 elderly residents who can no longer live independent lives. Located near the glistening waters of Boundary Bay, which fans out into the Strait of Georgia 40 kilometres south of Vancouver, Delta View has taken care of those suffering from geriatric conditions and illnesses for 30 years.
And throughout that time, its staff have tried to keep abreast of scientific developments and products that can ease the lives of residents, many of whom require complex care over a long period, says Salim Devji, the centre's deputy administrator.
With a ratio of one care-giver for every six residents, Delta View wants to be innovative in its approach to palliative care, he adds.
That's why Delta View is now moving toward a new wireless technology that may raise the provision of a safe environment for people with dementia to a new level in Canada.
Later this month, Delta View will begin "digitalizing" its equipment to be able to monitor where these items are at any given time within its two buildings. The radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology developed by Cisco Systems operates by placing a matchbox-size transmitter on an item, and tracking it via a central wireless system.
RFID is already in use in hospitals around the world, including several Canadian ones that attach transmitters to the blankets of newborns to prevent abductions. In Belgium, for example, RFID is used to keep track of cardiology patients, and an implanted microchip version is in use for some Alzheimer's patients in Florida.
That's where Delta View may be headed, too. But first it is concentrating on keeping track of its equipment. The centre has two buildings and wheelchairs, oxygen pumps and other equipment move freely between the two, meaning it can take time to find an item when it is urgently needed. Mr. Devji expects an RFID system will improve staff productivity, with less time wasted searching for equipment.
Once the system is working, Delta View's directors plan to discuss its potential in being able to keep track of residents with dementia. If they decide to proceed, the facility will be the first in Canada to do so.
More than 30 per cent of Delta View's residents, about 100 people, suffer from dementia (a condition that can result from an array of illnesses and conditions, from mental health problems to Alzheimer's disease).
Smaller transmitters would be worn, most likely as bracelets, by these residents. The RFID technology is so sensitive that it would be able to pinpoint a person to within a metre of his or her actual location, allowing assistance to come quickly if needed.
Mr. Devji says Delta View has a history of applying the results of scientific research on dementia into the centre's day-to-day management.
"We learned through international studies that the frequent wanderings that those with dementia make helps to alleviate stress and aggression. So when we built our dementia care facility in 1990, it was in the shape of a double diamond. There are no ends to any hallways so that residents could walk to their hearts' content, and no one gets lost," he explains.
"We have learned that an aggressive person [with dementia] is aggressive for a reason and we just have to find out what it is. Sometimes it could be that they are hungry, or need the bathroom, or they are frustrated because no one understands them. Movement alleviates this, and this is why it is important to allow them to do it safely."
Finding wandering residents quickly is key to their safety and quality of care, Mr. Devji says. "What we do currently... is physical counts," he says. "But this is not easy with so many care staff keeping track of so many residents who are moving. It is sometimes difficult to track them physically, but having the digital means would definitely be a bonus to everyone concerned. It would be there in case we need it."
Delta View's board will likely have to alleviate relatives' concerns about privacy if RFID were used for residents, but Mr. Devji believes there will be support for ensuring that those with dementia are better monitored.
If approval is granted, the centre hopes to have a RFID system under way for residents by mid-June.
Brantz Myers, director of industry marketing for Cisco Systems in Toronto, expects Delta View to try out the system to see how it bests suits the centre's general operations. He says the wireless tracking system is just one piece of a unified communications system Cisco is providing for the facility.
"What is new here is that they do want to apply them to patients ... In the case of the aging population you have people who get lost. They get confused and they have various illnesses that keep them from remembering where they should be, so there are obviously big ramifications if someone gets out of a facility and gets lost," Mr. Myers says. "These kinds of tools can help mitigate that."
He says Cisco Systems supplies wireless technology to about 630 Canadian hospitals, about half the market share, but none have used the system to track dementia patients. The company will keep a close eye on how the RFID system works for Delta View's residents, he says.
"We will watch this with keen eyes. It's the kind of thing that we would showcase when we speak at [medical conferences]," Mr. Myers says. "We will eagerly spend time on these best-case practices. It is helpful for the industry."
