Independent Living Telecare show flat opened at Alex Lyon House in Tang Hall

Ronnie Stockdale with Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing and Gwen Robinson inside the Independent Living Telecare show flat at Alex Lyon House Ronnie Stockdale with Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing and Gwen Robinson inside the Independent Living Telecare show flat at Alex Lyon House

TODAY marks the opening of a show flat in York which will demonstrate technology aimed at helping older people to continue to live safely and independently in their own homes.

The Independent Living Telecare show flat, at Alex Lyon House in Tang Hall, has unobtrusive wireless sensors placed around the home which detect problems such as smoke, gas, flood, extremes of temperature, movement or lack of movement or a person falling, City of York Council said.

The sensors automatically raise a local alarm as well as alerting a carer, keyholder or a monitoring centre.

Devices on show include panic buttons, floor, bed and chair occupancy sensors, personal alarm pendants, watches and medication dispensers which alert carers to missed medicine.

In addition to the Telecare equipment, the council has worked alongside technology and network specialist Ray Hallam to install enhanced remote monitoring capability that further helps individualise services to particular needs.

This includes a touchscreen controller that the customer and carer can use to operate all devices, including lights, sensors and alarms.

Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing said: “The new flat is a great innovation and a wonderful way to help older or more vulnerable people and their carers test out the best solutions for them to carry on living in their own homes with confidence and security.”

The flat will be open for viewings by appointment until the end of March on Tuesdays between 10am and noon and Wednesdays between 1pm and 3pm. For viewings, phone 01904 551550.

Comments(4)

Garrowby Turnoff says...
9:36am Wed 23 Jan 13

Sheessh! Teenagers today ought to get out more instead of sitting in their bedrooms all day long fiddling with computers, watching TV, trawling t'internet and texting each other. What good it'll do them I don't know. It'll never come in handy in later life...

Jiffy says...
1:45pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Yeah that's all wonderful & I dare say useful to many, however, does the property also stop them from leaving it & going wandering as and when the mood takes them and tracks their movements when they do??
A vast amount of this equipment is already available & can be fitted into ordinary homes but for some, especially those with Alzheimer's, there sadly comes a point when the only option in order to keep them safe is residency in a secure property with 24 hour security & care.
From personal experience though I must say that the movement sensors I have witnessed in action did not correctly track movements around a home as, if they had, mum had learned some incredible teleportation method & was able to get from the downstairs kitchen at the back of the house to the upstairs bedroom at the front without moving through any other rooms - a remarkable talent we did not know she had.
The alarm would also be activated when she left the house but all that would do was alert the centre that she had gone out & goodness only knew then where she would end up.
Eventually she ended up dismantling all of it as she did not want them "spying on her".
She was only safe & we as a family could rest a little easier once she was in residential care.

alfie says...
2:04pm Wed 23 Jan 13

Full on Alzheimers is one thing but putting a parent in a home is a disgrace people are supposed to look after the elderly members not palm them off when it gets a bit tough. They never did in the olden days when families were families everyone lived in the same house. Asian people seem to be the only ones who carry on this tradition.

expubcrawler says...
10:54pm Wed 23 Jan 13

The kitchen looks cold and clinical.

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