If the last 2 years have taught us anything it is the importance of digital support within health and social care. Alzheimer Scotland has a track record of supporting families and practitioners to identify and use consumer technology to improve wellbeing, and we were delighted when we received funding from mPower - a project working with communities to enable people to take the steps needed to live well, safely and independently in their own homes by self-managing their own health and care in the community.
Our Innovation and Development Team worked in partnership with ORCHA (the Organisation for the Review of Health and Care Apps) to develop a digital health library website for people living with dementia, their carers and families. At present there are over 360, 000 health and wellbeing apps in the marketplace, and only 20% of apps reviewed by ORCHA meet current standards and regulations. Having access to a collection of safe, accredited health and wellbeing apps can make a real difference to people’s lives. Many of the apps have been selected by health and care professionals including Allied Health Professionals, Alzheimer Scotland staff and our team at Brain Health Scotland. We are also working closely with our Dementia Circle members to further review selected apps.
Knowing that the apps in ORCHA’s digital health library have been measured against quality standards and regulations, gives us the confidence to recommend apps to those we support.
We rolled out the library to some of our staff at the end of February 2022. The initial feedback has been incredibly positive, and we are now rolling it out the general public.
Alzheimer Scotland's Digital Lead, Janice McGhie said:
"Monitoring our own health and wellbeing is more important than ever with the current demands and crisis within health and social care. Having access to a vast range of safe, trusted health apps in the one place is a game changer for those who may never have thought of self-managing their health & wellbeing."
To find out more about ORCHA & Alzheimer Scotland’s Digital Health Library visit https://alzscot.orcha.co.uk/