Housing & Care 21 is expanding its provision of digital care at 100 of its supported housing developments based on technology from Appello. Following the introduction of the first Appello digi-care system in 2015, 60 developments are already live, with a further 40 developments planned for installation by April 2018.
The retirement housing and extra care developments will all have a digital call system that replaces a traditional analogue system. Residents will have faster call connection times to Appello’s 24/7 emergency Careline services, reduced from around 90 seconds to four seconds.
Housing & Care 21 has partnered with Appello to design and develop a modern tablet that replaces the traditional alarm units. This joint development has many advantages over the digital system, including the improvement of social inclusion with video-enabled room-to-room calling, better security and a less intrusive lifestyle monitoring of residents.
Tony Tench, chief operating officer, Housing & Care 21, said, “In our partnership with Appello there has been a willingness on both sides to push for a digital solution to address the growing challenge of caring for older people in their homes.
“Currently, a retirement housing environment can seem quite intrusive, particularly because part of our service typically includes contacting residents to make sure they are okay. A digital system will allow us to provide a lifestyle monitoring arrangement where people’s normal routines are understood and supported discreetly, with an absent-until-needed service.”
