Community Housing Technology Enabled Care Services Explained

Technology enabled care and housing – What is it? 

Technology enabled care and housing (TeCH) is currently being used in several different ways to empower adults to improve their quality of life, especially older adults, and more vulnerable adults such as adults living with a long-term illness or disability.  

It aims to improve quality of life by promoting independence, and enhancing safety, whilst providing timely housing support when needed.  

This can include a wide range of technologies depending on the individual such as assistive technologies, digital telecare, and different sensors including door sensors, motion sensors, and fall detectors.  

What is community housing? 

 

Community housing, also known as social housing, is housing offered to adults at lower market rates to make it more affordable to live in. With housing being one of the biggest wider social determinants of health in the UK, there must be strategies in place that allow individuals living in community housing to feel more fulfilled, secure, and connected to society.  

Community housing aims to create safe, stable, and inclusive living environments that meet the diverse housing needs of a population including low-income individuals, older adults, adults living with disabilities, and other adults experiencing housing issues.  

The specific models and approaches to community housing can vary massively due to location, funding sources, and the needs of the community it serves. The most important thing to note about community housing is that it plays a significant role in addressing affordability issues, tackling homelessness, and providing safe and secure housing options for more vulnerable populations.  

Why is community housing important? 

 

There are three main reasons why community housing is important. It offers better affordable housing, helps to reduce homelessness, and provides safer and more secure housing for more vulnerable populations. Equally, there are more reasons why community housing is important such as: 

• It offers support services to help individuals become more self-sufficient  
• It improves independent living  
• It promotes social inclusion  
• It improves health outcomes  
• It increases access to education and helps improve employability  

One of the biggest reasons why community housing is important is that it can play a vital role for more older adults or adults living with long-term conditions or disabilities. This is because it promotes a sense of continuity and comfort in their lives. This safety can be enhanced further as many community housing programs are designed to be adaptable to residents' needs to make their day-to-day living even easier such as providing ramps, wider doorways, and grab bars.  

More supportive services can be provided in community housing to help more vulnerable residents have better access to healthcare and transport, assistance with their daily living if needed, and better access to organised activities, communal spaces, and peer support to help reduce loneliness and social isolation. This in turn can help relieve some of the caregiver burden on family members as the support services and on-site staff in community housing programs can provide additional assistance when needed.  

Most importantly, community housing promotes dignity and respect for older adults and more vulnerable populations by recognizing the right to live independently. Here community housing provides a safe, comfortable, and supportive environment allowing all adults the opportunity to thrive, remain living independently, or help them get back on their feet to improve their quality of life.  

Community housing technology enabled care services – What are they? 

Community housing technology enabled care services are programs and initiatives that utilise various technology devices and solutions to provide care and support to enhance living conditions for individuals in community-based housing.  

Community housing technology enabled care services can have several different aspects including:  

• Telehealth and telecare 
• Medication management  
• Smart home features  
• Assistive technologies 
• Emergency response teams  
• Personalised care plans 
• Data insights  
• Training and support  
• Fall detection  

All these examples of community housing technology enabled care services aim to improve residents’ quality of life, promote independence, and provide a more supportive living environment. Through integrating technology into community housing settings, individuals can receive the extra support they need while maintaining a sense of autonomy and better community engagement.  

Technology enabled care in community housing – why is it important? 

Like community housing in general, technology enabled care in community housing can offer many different benefits, the main ones being it helps enhance an individual’s quality of life. Advances in technology have accelerated change in the housing sector and services are delivered to support and engage residents. HousingLin have reported 10 principles of why TEC services are important in community housing, and these include: 

1. Promotes better co-production 

Through using TEC services in community housing, it encourages housing providers, the support staff, and the residents themselves to collaborate and co-produce solutions, to inform housing providers how residents want to live their lives to ensure the support they need is there when they need it.  

2. More cost-effective  

Like with most digital transformations despite there being initial costs associated with installing TEC, in the long run, it can be very cost-effective. This can be beneficial for residents, housing providers, and health and social care providers as it can reduce the need for extensive in-person care, hospitalisations, and emergency services.  

3. Choice-led  

Through implementing TEC services in community housing, it enables residents to have more access to options and choices to meet their individual needs and wishes.  

4. More interoperable  

Community Housing TEC services are also important as it can integrate and work across several systems and platforms to work with the health and social care sector to meet every individual’s diverse needs and aspirations to ensure the support needed is delivered.  

5. More inclusive  

TEC services in community housing reduces health inequalities to allow residents to have more active involvement in the community they live in. This helps to foster a sense of belonging in the community where more digital communications and support networks can be established to help residents connect to reduce loneliness and improve their mental health and wellbeing.  

6. More Outcomes-focused  

TEC services in community housing are also important as it improves the health and wellbeing of residents in a community to improve their quality of life and increase their independence knowing there is a safety net of support when needed.  

Support can then be tailored to the individual both now and in the future as their needs change and develop.  

7. Person-centred  

Through encouraging co-production and providing residents more choice, community housing TEC services are important as it puts every individual first to give them control over their own environment, health, and care needs. Through tailoring the support, the effectiveness of it can improve to help individuals continue to live more independently and confidently.  

8. More quality focused  

Implementing TEC services into community housing ensures that the design for the products and services needed are always fit for purpose and delivers the support needed for every resident.  

More timely support can be delivered through sharing real-time updates with housing support teams and loved ones so any negative changes in activity can be assessed and resolved quickly to prevent any additional emergency support needed. 

This helps to optimise the resource allocation, so no resident goes without the support and equipment they need to remain living independently.  

9. Provides more preventative support  

What also makes TEC services in community housing even more important is the focus on providing preventative support models instead of reactive ones. The data collected through the TEC services can identify issues a lot earlier so more preventative measures can be delivered to avoid a significant decline in a resident’s health, wellbeing, and quality of life.  

10. More adaptable  

One of the final reasons HousingLin has reported TEC services in community housing are important is because of how adaptable it is. The technological advances and insights provided by TEC services in community housing mean that housing providers can quickly adapt their support services before something more critical happens to help ensure residents remain living independently for longer.  

It is clear therefore technology enabled care services in community housing is important as it happily allows indviduals to live safer and more independent lives knowing there is a support circle around them when needed. Due to the digital insights notifying teams in real-time, support can be adapted quickly, and more preventative measures can be put in place to prevent anything critical from happening.  

A study by Housing LIN found that digital social care services can reduce ambulance trips to A and E by 68% and help 85% of individuals stay at home if they are supported by TEC responder teams. Equally, a study released by Worcestershire Telecare showed that installing both fire and fall detection devices throughout their community housing sites prevented major damage to properties and avoided £0.5 million in costs and possible loss of life 110 times over in the last 12 months.   

Here TEC in community housing is important as it can be scaled to accommodate a growing population of older adults and more vulnerable populations to increase independence for both now and in the future. 

Challenges of community housing technology enabled care services 

To implement technology-enabled-care services into community housing all housing providers and associations must be aware of the challenges that can occur. Housing Lin published a white paper on explaining how to revolutionise technology enabled care in housing. Within this white paper, they highlighted 4 key challenges that can occur.  

1. Funding  
2. Increasing demand and limited supply  
3. Integrating with health and social care services  
4. Managing expectations 

 

1. Funding  

 

One of the biggest challenges is the cost of the technology. This is not just the initial upfront costs, but also the costs to maintain the technology, and update or replace the technology when it is needed.  

With funding being limited due to public sector costs being reduced, the cost of having technology enabled care in community housing can be a significant barrier for housing organisations.  

2. Increasing demand and limited supply  

 

A challenge that can make the funding issues even harder to navigate is the increasing demand. With the aging population, the increase in people living and managing more long-term conditions and dementia, and the lack of affordable and appropriate housing, the need for TEC services in community housing couldn’t be higher.  

Unfortunately, due to the tighter budgets in some areas, not all housing organisations can afford to install TEC services into every home. This limited supply can increase the risk of multiple hospital and GP visits, as well as the need for more emergency services as organsiations will not have all the data insights they need in real time to implement preventative measures to improve quality of life. 

Equally, not all residents may have equal access or familiarity with technology. This can create disparities in the housing support available leaving some individuals at a disadvantage and not having the same opportunities as others.  

3. Integrating with Health and Social Care Services  

 

One of the other challenges of TEC in community housing is ensuring that all TEC services can integrate with residents’ local health and social care services so all parties involved can have access to the data and information they need to improve the housing support they can provide. 

The collecting and storing of health data and personal information through technology can raise some privacy concerns especially when information is being shared to housing providers too. Ensuring the security of this information by integrating services and obtaining consent from residents can be challenging.  

At the Access TEC, we have tried to make the process of sharing data easier for individuals living in supported housing who have regular carer visits with our latest integration. Here smart alerts and alarms in our Access Assure Home Hub is now visible in our care planning mobile app to help deliver better proactive care.

Now care workers have better access to activity information between visits to make better data-driven decisions regarding care to improve care planning, prioritise resources, increase independence, and provide reassurance.

4. Managing expectations  

 

One of the final challenges that Housing Lin highlighted in their white paper was managing expectations. This includes allowing people to stay in their own homes for longer, feeling part of the community, and overcoming negative perceptions and concerns about digital transformations. 

It can be difficult to manage expectations when there are technical issues. Sometimes there can be failures or malfunctions leading to disruptions in housing support services. This can make it challenging for housing organisations to provide all the support needed for everyone.  

For TEC in community housing to be successful it relies upon good and reliable internet connection and power. Having unstable networks, outages, or disruptions can jeopardise the safety and wellbeing of your residents. This in turn can make it more difficult for end-users to use, leading to frustration amongst your residents and their caregivers. 

5. Analogue to digital telecare switchover 

 

Another big challenge that will fundamentally determine the success of TEC services in community housing shortly is making sure that housing organisations are ready and prepared for the analogue to digital switchover.  

As you may or may not be aware by 2025 all analogue telephone services will be switched off and upgraded to digital connectivity. Currently 1.7 million vulnerable people are relying on telecare services in the UK and the typical analogue telecare alarm systems are becoming more and more unreliable.  

Digitally transforming your telecare services is vital to help increase an individual’s independence and improve the reliability of providing timely housing support. However, in August 2023 the government published their latest updates on the switchover and highlighted that the expected acceleration in the number of telecare users migrating to digital has not been as high as expected, with many housing associations not knowing what this switchover is and what it will mean for their residents.  

This is challenging therefore as up until recently there was an increased risk that housing organisations were using their limited budgets to buy soon-to-be outdated analogue infrastructure.  

One of the biggest concerns within this switchover is how the supply model will be funded. Normally, in the UK most providers will replace their stock gradually doing a percentage at a time. The analogue to digital telecare switchover, however, requires providers to replace all their analogue stock at once. Not only is this initial cost expensive, but it also makes it expensive to maintain and later replace when the initial new digital equipment reaches its end of life.  

Overcoming the barriers of providing TEC in community housing 

 

Undoubtedly, one of the main challenges of TEC in community housing is preparing for the analogue to digital telecare switchover. This is because it exacerbates the other four main challenges further by intensifying the concerns of how funding will stretch to afford all the new equipment, how demand and expectations can be managed, as well as how will housing organsiations be able to successfully integrate with health and social care services quickly and effectively to cause minimal disruption.  

At Access Technology Enabled Care (Access TEC) we make it a priority to ensure any digital transformation to digital telecare is as smooth as possible.  

The Government of Jersey found through working with us and using our Access Assure solutions they were able to redesign their care model to migrate and expand their services digitally to deliver better proactive care. Over 95% of users chose to switch to the new service happily due to how quick and easy it was to migrate their services to receive better outcomes.  

 

Being able to understand and manage the demand both now and in the future is vital to ensure individuals can remain living independently regardless of their needs. Luke’s story demonstrates how our technology enabled care services help all vulnerable populations receive the help and support they need. Through providing TEC services that combine both traditional alarm functionality and digital insights, individuals can set up smart alerts to keep updated in real-time about their loved ones whilst allowing residents to feel reassured support will be there if they need it.  

How to overcome the challenges of the analogue to digital telecare switchover in community housing? 

To be best prepared your housing organisation must be fully educated on what this switchover is and what it means. 

There are a variety of resources currently available to help your community best prepare including the switchover checklist provided by the LGA.  

At Access TEC we have responded to feedback from customers across the UK regarding their concerns about funding and reaching the demand to ensure the switchover is as smooth as possible.  

To do this we have introduced the Access TEC subscription model which includes a combination of hardware and services paid for over an agreed term. Familiar examples include Netflix, Spotify, and a mobile phone contract. This is the first of its kind across the TEC space and currently, we offer a choice of three different services: 

• Protect-alarm only  
• Preventative services and predict-providing alarm  
• Preventative services over timescales of up to five years 

Here our subscription model can make funding go further and enable a shift from hardware to more outcomes-focused support to help your residents reach their independent living goals by creating stronger relationships and encouraging a supplier partnership approach rather than a buyer vendor relationship.  

For more information on our Access TEC Subscription Model contact us today.  

Summarising community housing technology enabled care services 

In this article, I have summarised what community housing is and why it is important. Through highlighting the benefits of community housing this article has addressed how these benefits can be enhanced further through embedding technology enabled care services.  

This article has reviewed the different types of community housing technology enabled care services including how telehealth, telecare, and assistive technologies can help both older adults and more vulnerable populations to live more independently.  

I have summarised why it is important to integrate TEC services into community housing by explaining how it can help improve both your residents’ physical and mental wellbeing and increase their confidence to live independently knowing support will be there if they need it.  

Through addressing the challenges of TEC services in community housing, this article has highlighted how there are several different challenges but there is one overarching concern facing housing organsiations currently, and some organsiations don’t even know it yet.  

Concerns over the analogue to digital telecare switchover is a major concern, so this article has highlighted some of the best ways to be prepared to ensure your residents still receive the best support and care in your community housing with minimal disruption.  

At Access TEC we think it is vital that all housing organisations know and understand how the switchover will affect themselves and their community. To make this transition smoother, easier, and more affordable we have introduced our new subscription model which can be bespoke to your community’s needs.  

For more information on how our Access TEC offering can help your community housing be better prepared for the switchover and deliver the best outcomes possible, contact us today.