Digital remote support for home nursing care
First, the positive news – we are living longer, but unfortunately many of us are not healthy. With age, many people develop health problems that often lead to a need for care and support in old age. The political desire to prioritize outpatient care over inpatient care is also increasing the demand for home nursing care.
In order to provide the best possible support to home care workers and also to counteract the shortage of skilled workers, scientists at the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, led by Cornelia Schneider from the Institute of Computer Science, are working on new digital solutions for home care. In addition to international partners, the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Research Institute for Ageing Economics), Hilfswerk Niederösterreich, and MOCCA Software GmbH are also involved in the project.
The Care about Care project aims to support mobile nursing and care staff by providing a software solution that allows them to obtain expert advice on specific issues. The fact that this has often been done by telephone or via well-known messenger services in the past highlights the need to respond to this requirement.
“Until now, these consultations have mostly taken place over the phone, but this can lead to misjudgments. We are working on a solution that will enable those affected to communicate securely with each other using image and sound in the future,” explains Cornelia Schneider.
Special software has been developed for this purpose: the remote nursing support system. A smartphone app or smart glasses are designed to enable straightforward and professional communication. The smart glasses and smartphone app allow experts to get a real-time overview of the situation on site. “For example, wound managers can examine a wound directly and determine its exact dimensions using built-in tools such as a digital ruler,” explains Schneider. Unlike other services such as WhatsApp, the software runs on servers in Austria. This means that data sovereignty remains in the country or with the respective care organization.
The advantages of the project are obvious. An initial test phase has shown that the two apps (smartphone and smart glasses) can provide important support to nursing and care staff. In addition, time savings and fewer kilometers driven also play a role. This means that the project also scores highly in terms of sustainability.
The “Care about Care” project will be completed at the end of 2023. A new project (24/7-Digital), in which the technology will be further developed, has already been launched.
Further information on the project can be found at