FASS is the biggest monitoring centre for telecare alarms in mainland Europe with 99 operator stations in Seville and 55 in Malaga, and has installed and maintained telecare solutions to support older people and those with long-term needs across the Andalusia region. Working with Tunstall Healthcare, FASS is using telecare to keep service users safe and well in their own homes, enabling them to play an active role in the community.

FASS is one of twelve companies collaborating in the European project CommonWell, focusing on improving services to encourage independent living for older people. The EU initiative promotes better quality and more economically efficient ICT-enabled solutions for the provision of health and social services and aims to improve quality of life for older people and support independent living though integration of health and social care.

Over the past year, the two control centres in Malaga and Seville have handled over 3 million calls from service users via their state of the art PNC5 monitoring software. These centres ensure timely support and reassurance, and provide users with assistance to see a doctor, get information about their health or receive details of public transport and local pharmacies.

D. Pedro Rodriguez Delgado, Managing Director of FASS said: "Telecare technology meets the need for community-based health and social care models - it keeps people where they want to be, in the familiarity of the home environment.

"Governments across the world are looking at telecare as a way of providing proactive care and round-the-clock preventative support for an ageing population, helping to keep service users healthy, safe and in control in their own homes, while making best use of available resources."

All Tunstall telecare Lifeline systems include a base unit and wireless pendant as standard that alert trained operators to any problems and allow service users to communicate with the operators at the FASS monitoring centre. Solutions such as carbon monoxide, fall and smoke detectors are available to users to deliver a personalised package of care.

Telecare is not only unobtrusive, it ensures timely and preventative care when needed, enabling people to stay safe at home and preventing unnecessary admissions to hospital or long-term institutional care, as well as reducing some of the burden on the emergency, carers and secondary services.

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• Tunstall's Profile

About FASS
The Fundación Andaluza de Servicios Sociales (FASS) is a non-profit Entity, ascribed to the Ministry for Equality and Social Welfare of the Autonomous Government of Andalusia, which, as an instrument thereof, collaborates in the promotion, development, and management of resources for the social care of individuals, families and the groups they form a part of in order to enhance their well-being in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia.

FASS has mainstreamed basic telecare to provide care in the community to support vulnerable people in living independently.

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/fundaciondeserviciossociales/

About Tunstall
Tunstall Healthcare Group is the market leading provider of telehealthcare solutions, with over 2.5 million users globally. Tunstall's solutions support older people and those with long-term needs, to live independently, by effectively managing their health and well-being. Tunstall provides technology, expertise and advice to millions of people enabling them to lead independent more fulfilling lives. For more information on how telehealthcare can improve quality of life, visit www.tunstallhealth.com.