Embedding a Proactive Pathway to Transform Care at Azalea Court
Julie Burton, Head of Operations at Azalea Court shares first hand how Azalea Court has transformed resident care and operational culture by implementing Ally Cares AI resident monitoring system. Through a clear pathway approach, the team has shifted from reactive responses to proactive, personalised care that enhances well-being, supports staff, and empowers residents to live healthier, happier lives. Below, Julie outlines how Ally has not only delivered measurable improvements but also sparked a broader shift in how care is understood and delivered across the home.
When we first introduced Ally’s acoustic monitoring system at Azalea Court, we anticipated it would help reduce unnecessary checks and allow residents to sleep more peacefully. What we didn’t expect was how it would become central to transforming our entire model of care.
As we reviewed daily reports and patterns, we began to notice meaningful insights—not just in isolated incidents but in ongoing behavioural trends. This allowed us to intervene earlier, not based on symptoms alone but on real-time evidence gathered when residents were unobserved.
Over time, it became clear that Ally was giving us consistent, early warning signs across several key domains. As a result, we developed a formal resident monitoring pathway that could be followed by our care teams. This proactive approach now underpins our early intervention strategy across four main clinical areas:
- Pain
Subtle signs such as increased movement at night, restlessness, or irregular sounds became indicators that a resident may be experiencing pain—especially those unable to verbalise discomfort. Ally allowed us to detect these anomalies before they were visible to the eye, prompting us to investigate further using tools like PainChek. Once confirmed, we could respond with adjusted pain management plans or medication reviews.
“In one case, consistent movement patterns flagged by Ally indicated pain well before it was noticed during the day,” Julie explains. “That insight helped us avoid escalation and hospital transfer.”
- Tissue Viability
With Ally, we could detect residents changing position more frequently than normal or, conversely, not moving at all—both of which could be red flags for pressure area risk. When coupled with observations from day staff, these patterns informed our repositioning schedules and enabled us to intervene with mattress changes, protective dressings, or physio referrals—reducing skin breakdown and improving outcomes.
- Nutrition
Changes in sleep and activity, when compared with dietary logs, revealed patterns linked to nutrition. For example, a restless night could correlate with reduced food intake or dehydration during the day. In one instance, it helped us identify that a resident’s undereating was causing sleep disturbances and agitation, prompting a new high-calorie snack plan. With our pathway in place, teams now know exactly how to review these indicators and escalate to dietetic support when necessary.
- Infections
Night-time coughing, disrupted sleep, or changes in rest behaviour often became our first clues to developing infections, well before physical symptoms like temperature or confusion set in. This allowed our team to initiate checks and seek clinical input sooner, often avoiding deterioration and hospital admissions. Thanks to Ally’s early pattern recognition, we now view infection management as preventative rather than reactive.
Building on this, we then created a clear and adaptable resident monitoring pathway, which has since become embedded in our daily care practice.
The Ally resident monitoring pathway in action
This is the proactive cycle we now follow, allowing us to spot small changes early and respond before issues escalate:
1. Detection
Ally detects a significant change in sound or motion during the night. This could be increased coughing, unusual movement, or general restlessness.
2. Alert or Pattern Recognition
Depending on the severity, the system either sends a real-time alert to the team or highlights a behavioural trend in the morning’s data report.
3. Assessment
We assess whether this is a one-off event or part of a developing pattern. Is this a sudden infection? A pain-related issue? A nutrition problem? The manager reviews this with the team and discusses potential causes.
4. Investigation and diagnosis
We dig deeper, checking medication, sleep environment, care routines, or liaising with GPs or specialists where needed. In one case, we discovered that a bed pump vibrating against the footboard was disturbing a resident’s sleep—an unexpected insight that led to an easy fix and a much calmer resident.
5. Intervention
We take appropriate action, whether that’s repositioning equipment, adjusting a care plan, changing medication timing, or requesting specialist input (e.g. dietitian, physio).
6. Monitoring the response
We continue using Ally to track the resident’s sleep and movement data over the following nights to see whether the intervention has had the intended effect.
7. Care plan adjustment
If the resident returns to their normal pattern, we log the success and update the care plan. If not, we loop back, continuing to monitor and explore alternative interventions.
This cycle is used across multiple domains—pain, nutrition, infections, and tissue viability—and has helped us deliver earlier interventions and prevent deterioration that would otherwise have led to distress or hospital admissions.
Care home wide outcomes
One of the most powerful benefits of Ally is how it has changed the day-to-day experience for both residents and staff.
The night shift team were initially hesitant about learning a new technology, quickly embraced the system once they saw its value. Gone are the days of walking the floors hourly, disturbing residents regardless of need. Now, the team is more focused, less stressed, and able to deliver interventions only where needed, with clear data to back up their decisions.
“Our team quickly realised this wasn’t just another system—it was a way to do their job better, with more confidence and clarity,” says Julie.
The technology also allowed us to be more effective with funding applications.
Integration with Nourish enables us to present clear data when applying for emergency or ongoing 1:1 support. Local authorities have responded positively to this transparent, evidence-based approach—funding decisions are made more quickly, and crucially, residents can stay in their place of choice, rather than being admitted to hospital.
Additionally, Ally’s compatibility with PainChek has helped us detect pain in residents who are unable to self-report. By triangulating insights from Ally (e.g., increased night-time movement or disturbed sleep) with PainChek’s AI facial recognition, we’ve developed a richer understanding of resident discomfort and acted early to address it.
A more human, more insightful care experience
The biggest change is cultural. With Ally in place, staff feel more empowered, residents experience more personalised and less intrusive care, and we as leaders have clearer oversight to make informed decisions. It has strengthened the partnership between our team and the people we support.
“Technology should enhance the human side of care, not replace it,” Julie reflects. “Ally has helped us stay ahead of residents’ needs without compromising their privacy or independence.”
Looking ahead, we’re building on this success by using the data to design individual pathways for long-term improvements in mobility, nutrition, and well-being.
Final thoughts
We are now working with our in-house multidisciplinary team to apply this pathway approach across therapies—including dietetics, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language, so we can continue to identify the early signs of issues like weight loss, mobility changes, or swallowing difficulties.
“This is the future of care,” Julie adds. “Not just technology for technology’s sake, but insight that gives every resident a better chance to thrive.”
By embedding Ally’s monitoring system into our day-to-day practice, we’ve achieved more than operational efficiency—we’ve created a living, learning care environment where every small insight becomes an opportunity to improve quality of life.
And that, for us, is what care should always be about.