THE AGING PROCESS

Providing assisted living technology for elderly or disabled people is a growing business for our smart building control industry. Paul Foulkes, KNX UK President, examines the opportunity.

We have a lot to offer at a time when the residential care industry has been warning about the impossibility of matching quality care with service users’ (or their family’s) concept of affordability for many years. It’s a situation only amplified by the shock of the Covid pandemic and the pressures it put on to care providers - few sectors were impacted on so many fronts while still having to maintain a full service.

The lion’s share of the market for assisted living will be caring for the elderly. With forecasts of an ageing population and commensurately more people suffering from chronic health conditions requiring continuing care, the conundrum of meeting demand for services while managing costs clearly isn’t going away. Not surprisingly, the tech firms are predicting tech led solutions, which the tech-savvy next waves of service will readily accept. The next waves of older people are you, dear readers - one way or another we all have a vested interest in how this turns out.

So now the ‘senior living industry’ is a thing, but focused on residential care, with technology poised to deliver smarter, more responsive care and improved quality of life for older and vulnerable people. Ideally, the outcome is to free up staff to deliver personal and social care, rather than ‘policing’ residents. Voice-enabled controls give residents control of their own surroundings appropriate to the level of independence they have; while wearable devices keep watch on their wellbeing and raise the alarm in an emergency, such as leaving safe spaces.

Naturally all this can mean big investment by residential care providers who increasingly are chains of multiple residences and are likely to turn to specialist tech providers. So, does that mean that the non-specialist integrator has no place in the assisted living market? Absolutely not, because residential care is only one possible option. Aging or disability is a process, not an event, and most of us prefer to stay in or own homes for as long as possible. Assistive technology can make this possible for longer, and mitigate the perceived risks – not least of social isolation – as our faculties fail.

They key message here is to recognise that client needs change and the best technology for their needs will provide flexibility and enable making the necessary changes and upgrades simple and seam free, without having to rip out and replace existing devices and installations. As ever, once you start to look for futureproofing and flexibility, the inevitable answer is the nonproprietary KNX control protocol. KNX allows control devices from literally hundreds of different manufacturers to talk to each other and work in concert, with guaranteed compatibility. Even non-KNX devices can be integrated using a gateway device.

For those with a physical disability or limited by frailty of advancing age, general KNXcontrolled lighting, heating, blinds and video entry will form the basis of their installation, but there will also be the need for products that are not as commonplace in the home automation environment. These include window and door openers, and improved front-end controls for smart phones or voice activation. All of these are well within the abilities of a KNX smart home installer.

There are plenty of opportunities to help people maintain their independence with KNX. Andy Ellis of consultancy Household Automation describes a refurbishment project to adapt a home to accommodate a disabled family member. The key element was working closely with the occupational therapist. His team installed KNX lighting, heating, automated windows, blinds and doors, with an IT network providing reliable WiFi coverage and the use of wireless RF technology. Control of lighting, heating and blinds is via smartphone and voice activation.

In another project for disabled living, Household Automation provided retrofit control of KNX-automated windows and blinds from a device set up on the client’s wheelchair. For people coping with ageing, adaptations like remote monitoring, voice/remote control of stair lifts, automated lighting and face recognition for security are all possible.

Remember, disabled people do not pay VAT on products designed or adapted for their own personal or domestic use. They are also exempt from VAT on the installation and any extra work needed as part of the project, on repairs or maintenance, or on spare parts or accessories.

Andy Ellis says, “As a KNX professional, there is no reason why you cannot expand your business into the assisted living market. The initial route to becoming a KNX professional involves a five-day training course, available at various UK locations. Going on to become a very good KNX integrator involves being part of the KNX UK community, where you can explore ideas and troubleshoot with likeminded people.”

Of course, any smart home project should be designed with an eye to the future needs of the client. Installing KNX bus cabling at the outset is as good a start as any in setting the client up for future change and flexibility, so their home automation technology can stay in step with their needs at every stage of their life.