Advances in smart solutions are creating safer homes and protecting potentially vulnerable residents from danger.
When dementia affects more than 900,000 people in the UK (estimated to grow to 1.6 million by 2040) and with one in six of the adult population affected by hearing loss, the increasing need for innovative solutions to safeguard potentially vulnerable tenants and enhance their quality of life has never been more critical.
National campaigns such as Deaf Awareness Week, Dementia Action Week and Mental Health Awareness Week held during May reinforce the importance for us all to work towards enhancing the quality of life for those facing cognitive or sensory challenges.
When we live in an age where technology permeates every aspect of our lives, from smart home systems for safety and independence to assistive devices tailored to individual needs, connected technology has many advantages including the potential to revolutionise care for vulnerable populations and prevent incidents from happening in the first place.
Safeguarding measures
For people living in houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), terraced homes and high‑rise buildings, a major fire doesn’t just put the vulnerable person at risk but potentially hundreds of lives.
Housing providers must adhere to standard practices such as completing a thorough and detailed risk assessment of properties and installing smoke alarms and carbon-monoxide detectors that are then frequently tested to ensure that they’re operating as they should.
Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017, industry experts have looked at how best to support vulnerable residents in the case of an emergency. While evacuation plans are still critical in the event of tenants needing to leave the building, there are now also ‘smarter’ ways that can help housing providers reduce fire risks to support tenants and building managers.
Holistic support
Most people want to stay in their homes for as long as possible before moving to residential or specialist care but that requires a safe environment in which to live with the right support.
The technologies familiar to many elderly tenants, such as panic buttons or fall detectors, can be combined with new smart sensors that build on traditional fire alarms and carbon-monoxide detectors in a bid to provide holistic forms of support.
From water-leak detectors and air-quality monitoring to temperature and humidity sensing, the data collected from these smart sensors can help expand the network of protection to increase the level of safety and security offered to tenants.
Using data derived from connected devices could result in more residents receiving tailored support, increasing the likelihood of preventing further risks to their health and decreasing the associated long-term costs. Automatic alerts can prompt earlier interventions, ensuring more residents get the help they need when they need it.
Smart solutions for safer homes
FireAngel’s Home Environment Gateway delivers a holistic resident-safety solution, encompassing fire safety, AI‑driven risk stratification and background environmental monitoring to support the creation of ‘healthy homes’.
This unobtrusive gateway can be fitted on its own or used as the baseplate for a FireAngel Specification mains‑powered smoke/heat alarm, connecting wirelessly to a chosen network of devices, creating a link between Smart RF, Wi‑Safe 2 and Zigbee devices and FireAngel’s Connected cloud platform.
With Connected, encrypted data is securely stored in the cloud and monitored in real-time to alert housing providers to properties at risk of a future fire or developing damp and mould. It also provides a view of the status of alarms in a property (e.g. if removed, triggered or needing maintenance), eliminating wasteful visits, staff time and administrative fees.
The solution can be deployed within the parameters of an existing budget, using cellular connectivity with optional wi-fi back-up, and comes with Zigbee connectivity as standard, allowing multiple Zigbee sensors to be installed, offering tailored protection for residents and properties.
Built into Connected is our patented technology, Predict, a step-change in the fire industry that protects residents, properties and communities from preventable fire risks using unrivalled insight. Predict spots trends of behaviours logged by smoke and heat alarms, creating a map of fire-safety triggers and categorising properties as high or low risk.
A data-driven approach
Housing teams can use the FireAngel Connected cloud-based dashboard to view reports and real-time, GDPR compliant data for individual properties and devices. In addition, our open API allows integration into existing asset management systems if needed.
Using the dashboard, housing providers can quickly access the most important information, with an instant overview of urgent, active and Predict notifications to support effective resource management and highlight unidentified vulnerable tenants, including those suffering from a condition that could affect their safety.
By integrating with other telecare systems, solutions such as Connected can help in providing holistic care and support for tenants who need it most. Housing teams can also share data collected with third-parties to help improve their communities.
As we continue to adapt to the evolving needs and challenges of social housing, investing in connected technology remains a cornerstone for building safer, smarter and more inclusive communities for all, to ensure everyone receives the help they need when they need it.
Tazmin Ahlfors is the business development manager at FireAngel. Find out more about FireAngel Connected at fireangel.co.uk/connected.
