65 Years of Tunstall: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
Did you know Tunstall Healthcare started as a television and radio shop in Doncaster, Northern England, 1957? It’s incredibly humbling to look back and observe how the business has grown from a humble retail partnership into a global leader in innovation and technology, providing Connected Healthcare Solutions in 19 countries worldwide.
In 2001, Tunstall Healthcare opened its first Australian response centre in Brisbane, followed by the Tauranga, New Zealand response centre in 2002. The office in Brisbane now serves as headquarters for the Asia-Pacific Region, employing more than 100 people and caring for over 70,000 clients.
What’s changed - and what hasn’t
Our aim is simple: help older people and those with long-term health needs to live more independently wherever they choose.
The healthcare and social markets have changed considerably since 1957. The sector has witnessed an increasing demand for innovative solutions to the problems of older people and those with long-term health needs.
What hasn’t changed is our commitment to supporting our clients, workers, and allied health providers in delivering tailored, market-leading Connected Healthcare solutions regardless of a person’s age, location, or ability.
With the recent Productivity Commission report predicting that over 3.5 million Australians will be using aged care by 2050, we take a look at how Tunstall’s services have evolved over the years, and how we’re leading the way using using technology and innovation in health and social care services to meet this rising demand.
Home Care Solutions
Tunstall’s home care solutions make it possible for individuals of any age to live independently and safely wherever they choose. Tunstall Healthcare was the first organisation to introduce the technology that enables older people to call for assistance in the event of an emergency. A home alarm that is linked to a range of home environment and activity sensors facilitates the monitoring of the wellbeing and safety of any person living individually or with a carer’s assistance. In an emergency, the individual can summon help by initiating personal alarms, which are transmitted via the public telephone network. The home network is monitored around the clock by an on-site carer or our Customer Care Centre.
Tunstall’s Integrated Care Platform (ICP)
Our Integrated Care Platform provides a secure healthcare management system that enables clinicians and caregivers to remotely monitor patients’ conditions and vital signs. Telemonitoring can help reduce hospital admissions and improve patient experience. With access to real-time and historical health data, caregivers can monitor trends in patient conditions and make clinical decisions faster.
Related reading: A detailed look at Tunstall’s Integrated Care Platform and how it’s changing healthcare
Looking into the future
Tunstall’s Cognitive Care system is an intelligent health and social care solution for the future. The system assembles data from various sources such as smartphones, sensors, et cetera. Working with experts and specialists in higher institutions, the system analyses and comprehends the available data and uses the insight gleaned to develop intuitive and personalised care models.
With the aid of artificial intelligence, the system can monitor changes in the behaviour of an individual such as a person with Alzheimer's disease. This enhances the ability to predict potential deterioration in the person's health or the increased likelihood of a fall. The system then sends real-time messages to caregivers so they can intervene quickly. This way, health and social care services can allocate resources effectively and ensure that people with long-term health conditions such as epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia can get the right levels of support.
Tunstall is also planning big changes to meet the needs of clients by making significant investments to a digitally enabled future. This will enhance our digital platform and ensure that the innovative solutions presently in use will continue to help in maintaining health in later years.
Cognitive Care is a groundbreaking new addition to the digital healthcare space. Continue following this blog for updates about Cognitive Care in the Asia Pacific region, or contact our team to find out more.
Read more about Cognitive Care:
Cognitive Care ‘AI in Practice’ - article by Lyn Davies, Tunstall APAC Managing Director
Get in touch with us
Many people are hesitant to accept assistance or new technology, believing that it will restrict their independence. However, in reality, assistive technology helps older people and those with long-term health needs live even more independently wherever they choose. Tunstall Australasia’s monitoring centres and offices are located in both Australia and New Zealand. Our Connected Healthcare Solutions go a long way in helping people with a permanent and significant disability and elderly Australians and New Zealanders either living alone or in assisted living situations such as care homes and retirement living
We’re extremely proud and grateful to have been a part of enabling and supporting the lives of so many people across the world these past 65 years - and we’re excited about what the next 65 will bring.
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