Videophone scheme could provide 'virtual care' for elderly residents.

(From Aberdeen Press & Journal (UK))

Elderly residents of a rural Angus community could soon be using videophones to contact carers in what has been dubbed a virtual sheltered housing scheme.

Angus Council social work director Robert Peat has mooted the new telecare scheme as a way of helping older people to feel safer and less isolated at home.

A charity for older people, however, has raised concerns that telecare technology could be used to replace human contact and leave pensioners feeling cut off.

The Angus scheme, which looks set to be piloted in the Sidlaws area, would involve videophones being installed in the homes of about 30 …