People in the United Kingdom are living longer, and those who are at an older age are needing specific care regarding their health. What this means, is that care homes need to use greater amounts of, and more intelligent, assistive technologies.
This means that care homes will need to provide greater living environments for those who live longer, to enable them to be cared for properly with better and more frequent supervision.
In this article, Royal Blind who specialise in care homes for the blind and care homes in Paisley analyse how care homes will run in the future.
Quality in our care homes
Care homes that are funded by social and private means tell us that in the next 20 years, they will have a huge focus on the quality within their care homes. This is because it has been suggested that this strategy has the potential for people to ‘live healthier and longer lives’, as Jane Ashcroft suggested in the Silver Chic report in the future of care homes.
With the design of care homes changing, this will help those who are residents there to become more exposed to sunlight for greater amounts of time. As well as this, connectivity will also be a priority to help combat loneliness. To do this, care villages will use small bridges intersecting various gardens so that residents will closer to both their natural environment and other residents within the community.
How technology is evolving in our care homes
For patients to live longer and healthier lives, care homes must make the quality of care a priority. As technology is becoming more advanced, it is helping to ensure that patients remain safe within care homes.
An example of this would be sensors that have been added to patient rooms to alert staff to when a patient has fallen – and even when they have stopped moving. To help those living with dementia, clusters within buildings can be coloured variously with different lighting so that they are able to recognise their own living quarters. These types of technologies then are specifically designed to ensure patient comfort, and help to guarantee their safety while living in care.
Patients with the ability to become more independent
Wearable technology can monitor heart rates of patients, as well as their steps and the distance they travelled. They will also help to monitor fluid retention and respiratory rates, helping to lower hospital admissions, allowing patients to understand their own symptoms more effectively before they require medical assistance.
Care home robotics
Technology isn’t the only thing that is evolving. Robotics will be used to help calm down dementia sufferers who must deal with extreme stress, used within robotic pets that can respond to human touch and respond in intelligent way.
Voice commands will be at the central of almost everything and will control curtains, lights as well as other devices in the room. This will be used to help those who are blind and have visual impairments live with more ease.
This is how we see how the technology will evolve and how we will use it to treat people. The future of care homes looks promising for both staff and patients. The technologies that are already being utilised, and the systems that are being proposed, will help patients lead more independent and comfortable lives so that they can live a happier and healthier life for longer.
