Balhousie did IT first

Two years ago Balhousie Care Group placed Internet Corners in EVERY Balhousie Care home, so that residents could have free, 24/7/365 access to the internet - with many residents using the facility. Also, the online send a message to a resident which we introduced three years ago continues to provide a popular conduit for residents and relatives/friends to communicate.

Now, a new £12m scheme launched this week aims to give disabled and elderly people in care homes more access to IT and the internet.

The Get Connected scheme is being funded by the Department of Health and aims to benefit as many as 22,000 care providers in the UK.

Individual applications for grants of up to £20,000 are being managed by the Charities Technology Trust (CTT), which has already received 359 applications in two days.

William Hoyle, chief executive of the trust, told Computing: "There is an assumption that once people are in a care home they no longer need to be connected to the world, we think this is wrong."

Many care homes have access to a single computer which is used for administration and is not connected to the internet.

The Social Care Institute for Excellence is overseeing the scheme, which also aims to benefit staff who work in care homes.

The grants will also cover user training for care home staff and residents. Balhousie Care Group were at the very forefront of this kind of initiative.