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Instead,
it is the solution under-pressure social services bosses have turned to to
deal with the ongoing shortage and rising cost of care home places. They
are looking to pilot the Insight Active Care Environments scheme in
Basingstoke, Hampshire, later this autumn. The
trial will see a number of the area's elderly living in houses kitted out
with the latest in surveillance gadgetry that can not only warn on-call
carers of any problems but can even talk to the residents themselves to
find out if anything is wrong. It
is based on an idea first dreamed up by Professor Heinz Wolff, working
with the department of bio-engineering at Brunel University. When
he first unveiled the scheme in Hampshire, Professor Wolff vowed the
technology would not be used as a "Big Brother is watching you"
system. The
professor, who has himself tested the technology by living in a mock-up
home on his university's campus, said: "It's presented as part of his
or her personality - not as a spying system but as actually something that
belongs to them, like a walking frame or stick. "It
is, therefore, not just a sophisticated way of keeping tabs on
people." Speaker
warning
The
system, now being further developed by Huntleigh Technology, consists of
sensors attached to doors, beds, baths, toilets, cookers and locks which
feed information to a small computer. The
computer is in turn linked to a telephone and other communication devices,
such as speakers. When
a risk is identified - such as the back door being left open for an
unusual length of time or at an unusual hour - a warning will be issued to
the resident, either by a telephone call or over a speaker. The
system's designers say the critical factor is that the technology is
interactive and can negotiate with the tenant. So,
the resident can either address the risk by closing the door or simply let
the computer know that they are aware of the situation, perhaps because
they are waiting for the cat to come in. If
the back door remains open and there is no response then an agreed third
party, such as a relative, neighbour, friend or call centre, will be
contacted. Basingstoke
and Deane Borough Council is set to trial the system - which costs £8,000
per installation, with a first-year maintenance charge of £800 - in
conjunction with local housing associations. Four
elderly residents have already been picked to try out the technology. Hampshire's
social services boss, Councillor Felicity Hindson, welcomed the scheme for
allowing the elderly to keep their independence. She added:
"I am pleased to see the progress being made with this exciting
project which makes the best use of technology in allowing older people to
continue to live where they most want to be - safely in their own
home."
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
No,
it is not the latest Big Brother show targeted at an older audience.