Assisted living in Scotland will be powered by fibre connections

Expertise has stored individuals linked throughout 2020 like by no means earlier than. Whereas grandparents could have needed to go for months with out getting a hug from their grandchildren, they’ve nonetheless been capable of discover an entire new world of digital connections for preserving in contact with their households.

Phrases like “Zoom”, “Facetime”, and “WhatsApp” have entered the older generations’ vocabulary, with grandparents mastering how one can share pictures, watch movies, and even unmute themselves throughout household quizzes. On-line duties that appeared out of attain just some months in the past have now change into commonplace in households across the nation.

That adoption of know-how will change into much more necessary within the years forward as Scotland’s demographics shift. By 2039, greater than 800,000 Scots might be over 75, an increase of 85 per cent from at this time’s stage.

Households – and politicians – need older individuals to have the ability to dwell independently in their very own houses for so long as they’ll, having fun with the very best lifestyle in security by understanding that assistance is at hand if it’s wanted. And know-how will assist that want to change into actuality for a whole lot of hundreds of Scots.

“The alternatives are actually thrilling,” says Elaine Doherty, regional lead for Scotland and the north east of England at CityFibre, the UK’s third largest community infrastructure supplier. “Assistive know-how can assist individuals to enhance their independence, security, and wellbeing.”

These items of assistive know-how can take many alternative varieties. For instance, having a sensor in a kettle can monitor if somebody with dementia has caught to their routine by making their morning brew at seven o’clock.

In the event that they haven’t turned on the kettle then one other piece of know-how in the home – whether or not it’s a house assistant like Alexa or a pill laptop like an iPad – will be set to present them an audio or visible reminder. If the kettle nonetheless doesn’t get switched on or the individual doesn’t cancel the notification then a relative or carer may very well be alerted to examine that every little thing’s okay.

For individuals dwelling in sheltered housing or retirement houses, know-how may additionally assist to observe their security. Underfloor sensors may detect if somebody has fallen over and remained on the bottom or door alarms may alert wardens or different care employees if individuals go away the constructing unexpectedly.

“All these sensors and different items of speaking know-how have to run over a really-reliable, bandwidth-heavy community,” factors out Doherty. “Having that community means two issues can occur – all these items of know-how can discuss to one another, and all their information will be shared within the cloud, permitting synthetic intelligence (AI) to identify patterns and take motion if wanted.”

Having optical fibres put in in every avenue – which use rays of sunshine travelling down tiny glass tubes to hold information as a substitute {of electrical} indicators alongside conventional copper wires – will underpin the rollout of assisted dwelling know-how. Current copper phone wires simply received’t be capable of deal with the variety of indicators wanted to assist individuals dwell independently.

It’s not merely older individuals who will profit from assisted dwelling both. Wearable gadgets may very well be used to observe situations akin to diabetes and provides customers prompts when wanted or join them to healthcare professionals when acceptable.

Scotland is on the forefront of growing the assistive know-how that can enhance lives. The Nationwide Robotarium being constructed at Heriot-Watt College in Edinburgh will embody a give attention to how robots can be utilized in each healthcare and assisted dwelling.

In the meantime, insurance coverage agency Authorized & Normal has teamed up with the College of Edinburgh to launch the Advanced Care Research Centre. The centre will goals to embed information science, synthetic intelligence, assistive applied sciences, and robotics into personalised care.

For greater than 25 years, the Dementia Companies Improvement Centre, primarily based on the College of Stirling, has been on the forefront of not solely designing houses to assist individuals with dementia but in addition incorporating know-how that can assist assisted dwelling. The centre has a design and know-how suite that demonstrates how know-how will be included into houses. [link to https://dementia.stir.ac.uk/design/design-and-technology-suite]

South of the Border, CityFibre is testing internet of things (IoT) technology with Cross Keys Homes, Peterborough’s largest social housing supplier. Quite a lot of sensors have been put in in houses to observe components together with humidity and condensation as a means of serving to individuals with bronchial asthma and different well being points and reducing the danger of damp.

Temperature sensors guarantee that the houses aren’t too scorching or too chilly for residents, whereas warmth and smoke detectors monitor for fires, and carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide sensors have additionally been put in. “All these sensors can talk with one another due to fibre connections,” provides Doherty.

“Linking them again to Cross Keys Properties means they’ll make early interventions in the event that they’re wanted. These IoT gadgets won’t solely improve individuals’s lives but in addition assist older individuals to dwell safely in their very own houses for longer.”