The role of telecare in the protection of individuals from domestic violence

Abstract

Domestic violence is a threat to the well‐being of many families in the UK, and a great burden on health, social care and police resources. Its management requires swift action either to protect the victims in their own homes, or to move them to more appropriate accommodation where the perpetrators will be unable to find and harm them. However, the risk of violence often remains and requires some immediate action and access to support services on a 24‐hour basis. Special call lines have been created both at national and at local level, but these are not always suitable when there is a risk of the perpetrator being aware of such communications. Telecare offers a more sophisticated and responsive way of managing the risks, and is becoming popular with local authorities across the country. While basic systems using alarm pendants to raise an alert are popular with most authorities, the addition of smart sensors and the use of video monitoring can both be used to good effect. In the future, it may be assumed that a much wider range of telecare devices will be deployed to provide automatic detection of problems, and to ensure that victims of abuse are protected appropriately both in their homes and in other locations. Most local authorities use at least some elements of telecare, but there may be considerable potential for improving support by including a greater level of technology, some of which could be provided through Supporting People programmes or through the police.

Citation

Doughty, K. and Clark, J. (2009), "The role of telecare in the protection of individuals from domestic violence", Journal of Assistive Technologies, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 44-48. https://doi.org/10.1108/17549450200900033