Alternative to Long-Term Care: The Virtual Nursing Home Model

Background: Ageing populations, rising frailty and multimorbidity are driving unsustainable demand for residential and acute care. HaloCare’s assistive technology in the home, coupled with its proprietary data intelligence platform and 24/7 monitoring support, offers a type of Virtual Nursing Home. This solution is designed to extend the older person’s ability to remain in their home for longer, in a safe and supported way.

HaloCare is co-designed with the HSE, older adults and their families to empower healthier living in their own homes, through supportive technology, proactive and preventative monitoring in collaboration with other community care services. The HaloCare model aligns with the 4M’s framework of Age-Friendly Care (What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility) and embodies the ICIC pillars of integration, partnership, agility, and co-production.

 

Approach: HaloCare’s model integrates 24/7, around the clock, client care with other HSE community services such as Public Health Nurses, ICPOP (Integrated Care Programme for Older People) and dementia support. HaloCare’s 24/7 Care Hub and software platform, combined with innovative devices in the home, support and enable independent living for clients with significant frailty, fall risk and cognitive decline.

 

HaloCare delivers a complementary solution through integration with traditional services such as homecare and day services, supporting collaboration across primary, community and acute sectors.

The programme currently provides a virtual nursing home solution to 95 Clients with an average age of 83, where:

• 69% live alone or are socially isolated
• 100% are at risk of falls
• 89% have clinically significant frailty
• 82% present with cognitive decline (80% of those have high decline)
• 100% are at risk of malnutrition, 41% of those are under active dietetic care
• 36% have minimal or no Face-to-Face home care (<2 hours/week)

Operational performance includes:

• 1,050,960 hours of monitoring delivered to date
• 9,387 high level alarms managed to date with rapid response coordination (<30 seconds)

Results: According to an independent study conducted by University College Dublin (UCD), HaloCare’s integrated model achieved:

• 86% reduction in Emergency Department visits
• 100% reduction in EDITH callouts
• 79% reduction in ambulance callouts
• 65% reduction in hospital admissions

These results equate to an estimated €4.35 million in savings annually based on 100 clients.

Furthermore, 58.5% of clients met the clinical criteria for long-term residential care (calculated through frailty, cognitive and fall risk) but were enabled to remain living safely at home, thus reducing demand on the HSE Fair Deal Scheme.

Compared with the average nursing home cost of €1,500 per week, HaloCare’s model defers the need for residential care and delivers support at a fraction of the cost.

 

Implications: HaloCare is a proven, scalable and innovative solution that complements face-to-face services, enabling what matters most: independence, dignity and safety at home. HaloCare’s hybrid care model integrates seamlessly into the continuum of care and has been proven to deliver significant health outcome results through partnership and co-production. HaloCare provides a sustainable alternative to long-term care with significant system-wide savings and global relevance for integrated care systems.