Home care provider Silverchain is driving a digital healthcare shift as Australia’s first home care provider to introduce smart glasses at scale.
Silverchain demonstrated how its use of smart glasses empowers nurses to detect early signs of health decline to federal policymakers at the Parliamentary Friends of Nursing event held at Parliament House this week.
The wearable device allows nurses to stream real‑time video directly to a panel of clinical specialists, enabling immediate virtual consultation and faster decision‑making without requiring clients to leave their homes.
Smart glasses were closing a critical gap in early detection, especially for clients living with complex mental health conditions who may struggle to communicate that they feel unwell, said Silverchain Clinical Nurse Manager Katie Wrightson‑Rowton.
“In the past, escalating a client’s subtle physical and mental decline meant booking a subsequent nursing visit, causing a 24‑to‑48‑hour delay before a GP could review the case,” she said.
“When an older person is battling infection, they don’t have 48 hours before it transforms into life‑threatening sepsis or triggers a debilitating fall.”
“With smart glasses and virtual care technology, we cut that wait entirely. We can rule out risks, run immediate screenings, secure antibiotics from a GP that very day, and keep the client safely resting in their own home.”
The impact is particularly significant for older Australians, for whom early signs of infection can be subtle but dangerous. Urinary tract infections remain the most common infection in this group, often leading to falls, hospitalisations and increased mortality. Yet traditional testing methods are slow and frequently inaccurate — with only 2% of samples fully reliable due to collection and transit issues.
The technology is proving transformative across multiple nursing specialties — palliative care, hospital in the home, aged care, clinical supervision, medication management and specialist wound care.
Showcasing the technology to policymakers in Canberra, highlights the urgency of shifting more care into the home, supported by emerging digital tools, said Silverchain’s Executive Director of Research & Innovation Tamra Bridges.
“By deploying smart glasses at scale, we are turning technological advancements into real progress. Our experience shows that when nurses are supported to work to the full extent of their education and professional capability, care becomes more accessible, more efficient, and sustainable.”
