Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and plates
- Acknowledgements
- one Introduction: what are social alarms?
- two Social theory and social alarms
- three A critical review of the literature
- four The origins of social alarms
- five Social alarms in England and Wales
- six Social alarms in Scotland
- seven Social alarms in Ireland
- eight Social alarms (PRS) in North America
- nine Social alarms in the rest of the world
- ten Social alarms: international comparisons
- eleven Social alarms and smart homes
- twelve Social alarms, telemedicine and telecare
- thirteen Falls, lifestyle monitoring and dementia care
- fourteen Conclusions
- Appendix A note on methodology
- References
- Index
- Also available from The Policy Press
six - Social alarms in Scotland
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 January 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and plates
- Acknowledgements
- one Introduction: what are social alarms?
- two Social theory and social alarms
- three A critical review of the literature
- four The origins of social alarms
- five Social alarms in England and Wales
- six Social alarms in Scotland
- seven Social alarms in Ireland
- eight Social alarms (PRS) in North America
- nine Social alarms in the rest of the world
- ten Social alarms: international comparisons
- eleven Social alarms and smart homes
- twelve Social alarms, telemedicine and telecare
- thirteen Falls, lifestyle monitoring and dementia care
- fourteen Conclusions
- Appendix A note on methodology
- References
- Index
- Also available from The Policy Press
Summary
Overview
As noted in Chapter Four, many social alarm services managed by Scottish local authorities are distinguished by the extent to which social work departments were instrumental in their establishment. This is despite social alarms in Scotland sharing, with the rest of Great Britain, their provenance in sheltered housing. The fact, however, that resident wardens in sheltered housing schemes were generally paid for or subsidised by the social work authorities meant that those authorities had greater influence.
The earliest social alarm services in Scotland were those of East Lothian and Central Regional Councils, both social work authorities. Both used non-speech radio equipment. They were, therefore, part of that early raft of pioneers that included Stockport and Oldham south of the border.
EAST LOTHIAN COUNCIL
The East Lothian service commenced in 1979, served the City of Edinburgh and was supported by funding from the Lothian Health Board (Duncan, 1988, s 7.1). Like that in Stockport, it was not intended to give cover to sheltered housing schemes managed by the council, but rather was to be focused on the needs of others, essentially older people in the wider community.
While it had a remit to serve both older and younger people with support needs, the Lothian service grew only slowly. Just 300 users were linked in 1988. Keys were in most cases held by mobile wardens who, together with a coordinator and clerical assistant, managed the service. Management was later vested in a monitoring and response centre facility operated jointly with Midlothian Council. By 1996 this had grown to serve the needs of 2,150 users with carephones and to provide an out of hours service to 350 sheltered housing tenants (Dick and Pomfret, 1996, Appendix).
(FORMER) CENTRAL REGIONAL COUNCIL
Better documented and evaluated than the East Lothian service is the Mobile Emergency Care Service (MECS), set up by the then Central Regional Council in 1980. This service had been particularly influenced by the English experience at Stockport (McWhirter, 1984, p 11).
From the outset, the challenge facing Central Region in setting up a service was substantial. The authority had responsibility for services to older people over a huge geographical area and experienced difficulties with regard to radio signal reception in some rural areas.
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- Information
- Social Alarms to TelecareOlder People's Services in Transition, pp. 93 - 106Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2003