ADAPT AND THRIVE

BUILDING ASSISTED LIVING PARTNERSHIPS

How can systems adapt to support more people and businesses looking to deliver for those with specific needs and expectations? Some key players have their say.

Phil Vlach, Associate Technology & Digital at AdaptEco, specialist in providing smart home technology for assisted living and future-proofed homes, says, “Assisted living communities can benefit greatly from the growing acceptance and use of technology amongst residents. Combined with the advancements and ever-growing benefits of smart care technology, retirement living operators can differentiate by introducing smart assisted living into their communities.

“Assisted by the latest digital care, residents can enjoy a longer health-span and active, independent living. Retirement living operators are focusing on what is important today and tomorrow, understanding that the value derived from smart assistive solutions evolves over time. “As residents often move into retirement living properties while they are in good health and leading active lifestyles, these solutions initially provide convenience and comfort through the control of lighting, heating, and cooling for example, as well as related property management functions such as non-clinical activities such as concierge services, activities or communication.

“At this stage, these solutions provide operators with the ability to make their operations more efficient, to be proactive in their maintenance, and to reduce operating costs while providing added value to residents.

Phil adds, “As residents age gracefully in place, they may develop mobility or cognitive impairments that would benefit from assistive technologies that are designed to make life easier and safer. At this stage, operators can layer assistive technologies like ambient sensors to detect patterns of daily living (such as wearables or smart floors and sensors). The introduction means carers can proactively aid residents or to avoid incidents that would require acute care. Technology can be introduced which includes medication prompts, exercise videos, vital sign monitoring, and detection of health deterioration.”

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

AdaptEco has focused exclusively on building a trusted ecosystem of Digital Care Partners that the company assembles in a bespoke fashion for each operator’s project. AdaptEco has over 30 Digital Care Partners in its EcoSystem. Supplier of modern building technology, JUNG joined the EcoSystem in 2021.

Graham Oliver, Director of JUNG UK adds, “JUNG relies on powerful technology and strong cooperation partners for perfect networking. As a leading manufacturer with a reputation for high quality robust, reliable products we can be confident that our systems can meet the stringent performance requirements expected of us by our customers. As founding members of KNX, our commitment to this ‘future proof’ and reliable technology together with strong partnerships with installers, allows us to provide solutions in commercial, domestic, and of course assisted living applications.

“The functional diversity of JUNG systems covers all areas of modern electrical installation, including lighting, blinds, air conditioning, energy, security, door communication and multimedia. Through wireless or KNX based applications, buildings can be comprehensively equipped with the highest technical and design quality.

Christian Kiefel, CEO at smart home manufacturer, ProKNX, adds his insight, “The future-proofing of homes using a conglomeration of interoperable smart products and systems, such as those being currently set up by our partner AdaptEco in the UK, is going to need to become more wide-spread as the population in Europe ages. If people can use intelligent technology to live comfortable and safely for longer in their own residences, society will also profit. “The increasing burden on retirement and assisted living facilities to provide care for ever larger numbers of the population will decrease. A consequence of staying in familiar surroundings will help older individuals to lead richer and more integrated lives. Rather than being consigned to an institution, they will continue to be an important and visible part of the community.

“At ProKNX we believe that any system put in place to facilitate the lives of individuals living at home who need extra security and comfort to remain independent must be easy to set up and maintain and need a very low learning arc to be able to use it. For seniors, these factors can be an extremely important in their agreeing to have smart technology in their homes.”

Christian explains, “This is why we have developed and recently launched a voicecontrolled smart speaker called Aragon Companion, made especially for the rapidly growing integrated retirement sector. Our smart speaker has a number of features that suit this market, from keeping data completely private, to the fact that the device understands naturally spoken phrases and can be customised to suit an individual’s speech.

“To keep the end-user safe and give peaceof-mind to outside family members, we have also added a ‘call for help’ feature and an unobtrusive monitoring and analysis capability that works on-device. The smart speaker works equally well without an Internet connection, which leads us to another essential factor for any smart technology used in assisted living – the products must be fail-safe as, in certain circumstances, the end-user can be completely dependent on their continuous functionality.”