RFID Buttons improve care of dementia patients

Filed in archive Healthcare on December 15, 2008

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Ann Marie Kurtz

This step is expected to help dementia patients not only preserve their identities but even their dignity as adults. In order to make this a possibility elder care centers at City of Nottingham will be affixing RFID buttons to clothing so that it becomes easier for staff members to track the respective items of the patients and improve the level of care and experience of elders.

Dubbed as Stayput, this system deploys buttons of the size of eleven millimeter embedded with passive high frequency tags. These buttons are durable and can withstand several launderings. They are applied using motorized desktop button applicator and can be removed with a handheld tool.

This dignified clothing identification system improves the overall experience of dementia patients. Staff members felt that attaching labels or writing names on clothing of the patients was not appropriate and this act was similar to treating adults like kids which they didn't feel was appropriate therefore they came up with this idea which has made it easier to take care of dementia patients.