Aquarate is aiming to eradicate dehydration in care homes with its automated fluid intake monitoring system, Hydracare.
Although dehydration is an easily preventable condition, staff shortages and inadequate staff education can lead to dehydration-related morbidity, mortality, and impaired quality of life in care homes.
Some 20 per cent of older people in UK care homes are dehydrated, and common causes of hospital admissions are UTI’s, AKI’s, and falls & fractures – all of which can be relieved by proper hydration. Over 40,000 avoidable hydration-related deaths occur in the UK annually, creating unnecessary pressure on our healthcare system.
Being properly hydrated improves skin conditions, wounds, marks and bowel movement, which is a huge problem in care homes especially for residents who take medication for pain relief, which makes constipation worse. Ensuring residents drink enough fluid reduces individuals' dizziness and drowsiness and increases the cognitive function needed to see each person’s character.
Inaccurate manual fluid paper charts have been used year after year within the care sector, despite being widely known as an ineffective tool. This method means that staff have to ask the patients what they have had to drink, and relies on the patient remembering what they have had to drink.
For those unable to report to staff what they have consumed, the system relies on staff being around when drinks are collected, which is not always possible. Intravenous fluid recording can vary and output monitoring can prove difficult, particularly if the patient is mobile. These, amongst other issues, leads to discrepancies in the accuracy of fluid balance charts.
Aquarate’s mission is to reduce hydration related illnesses and preventable deaths. To this end, it has developed Hydracare with clinicians across care markets to increase patient safety. Hydracare is an automated fluid intake monitoring system that tracks how much an individual drinks using the Hydracup.
Hydracups are the only smart cups on the market which can produce accurate data that integrates into care systems, saving staff time and delivering quality care. The Hydracup discreetly tracks an individual’s fluid intake by measuring liquid volume automatically, allowing caregivers to proactively support further fluids to those who need it the most.
As well as recording fluid data, the Hydracup also allows carers to see patterns and trends beginning within a user's drinking habits at the click of a button, helping tailor care around an individual's routine.
Using Aquarates Hydracare system to track fluid consumption can also reduce medication needs drastically and provide vital data required by the CQC for proving care homes are meeting their residents’ hydration needs.
Aquarate is deploying Hydracare technology to care homes across the country - integrating data straight into their chosen care management systems - and is working with over 150 councils to implement hydration monitoring into the community.
To see how swapping to the Hydracup can improve the lives of the people that you care for, get in touch for a free demo, at a time that suits you, at: www.aquarate.com
