YourStride partners with Health and Care at Home

YourStride announces partnership with Health and Care at Home to help older people be more independent.

• Two social enterprises have joined forces to help older people across Devon and Cornwall stay independent at home.
• YourStride gets older people emergency help at home and out and about with a call capable smartwatch.
• Coronavirus means avoiding admission to a care home could be a lifesaving decision.

YourStride are partnering with Health and Care at Home to help older people all over Devon and Cornwall stay independent at home. This partnership allows older people across the South West access to a free month of the highest rated emergency alarm service in the UK. It is their shared mission of helping people stay independent, happier and healthier that brings them together. This is especially important at the moment when being forced into a care home could be truly life threatening.

The alarm is designed to look like an everyday watch but has the ability to make an emergency call to a 24/7 monitoring team. Unlike traditional alarms, older people can get help wherever they go because the device can be used anywhere in the country; at home or out and about. The watch can also track steps and measure heart rate to help people stay safe, independent and active. It was designed with the help of older people across Devon and Cornwall and final tweaks were developed in Torbay.

Dr Clive Acraman CEO of Health and Care at Home says:

”At Health and Care at Home we specialise in providing the very best, bespoke care and support to our customers. Our aim is to enable people who use our service to continue to live as full and meaningful lives as they are able within their own home and as members of their community. Many people we care for and support, and their families, live in fear of having a fall while being alone and not being able to summon help. There are many wearable call systems on the market that people can wear at home to give a measure of assurance, unfortunately these do not work outside of the home. We have chosen to work in partnership with Personal Alarm Watch because they are continually considering ways to enable people to remain as independent as possible as valued members of their community.”

Both organisations are supported by The Growth Fund through Resonance, a social impact investment company. The Growth Fund provides a blend of loan from Big Society Capital and grant from The National Lottery Community Fund to social lenders across England, allowing them to offer smaller loans to charities and social enterprises and take much greater risk than lenders have typically been able to do before. It is this funding that supports the partnership.

Tom Crook Investment Manager - Resonance

“It’s exciting when connections are made between enterprises we have supported that look to strengthen both enterprises and increase the level of impact they in turn can provide to their communities. I have been working with Personal Alarm watch for about 12 months now and building partnerships with other businesses and enterprises will enable them to grow and support more elderly people. It’s great to see this happen in practice through the forming of a relationship with Health & Care at Home who are providing high quality home based care in the South West, particularly in the current COVID-19 environment where older people need more support that ever”

Supported by Design Council, Resonance, UnLtd and the Big Lottery Fund, the team used cutting edge design techniques while in consultation with older people all over the country to create a personal alarm system that people actually liked and are proud of. Part of this feedback was making sure no difficult or in-person installations were required. It’s no surprise that this attention to what older people want has propelled them to becoming the highest rated alarm service in the country.

YourStride Co-Founder Ewan Marshall says:

“Having grown up on the border of Devon and Cornwall, I am incredibly excited to work with Health and Care at Home to help older people across the South West stay independent. I feel especially proud as we have spent years designing the Personal Alarm Watch with older people in both counties and now we are able to be there for people when their families may not be able to be.”

To learn more about the social enterprises involved in this partnership please visit YourStride and Health and Care at Home.