Six care providers receive funds to co-produce tech services with older residents

The care and housing providers have been awarded £440,000 to involve older residents in shaping digital services.

Bield Housing & Care, Haringey Council, Platform Housing Group, Pool Group, Southend Care and Wiltshire Council will each receive funds between £65,000 and £75,000.

The money is provided by the TAPPI ‘technology for our ageing population: panel for innovation’ project, which aims to improve how technology is used in care homes.

Dr Lynne Douglas, Bield Housing & Care chief executive, said: “This has huge potential to shift thinking on how housing can be integral to new models of delivery in the integration agenda.

“Most importantly, it will be delivered together with older people to improve the outcomes that matter to them.”

The six organisations will test apps, devices and digital systems across healthcare settings. What makes this fund different is that residents will be involved in the decisions about which digital support services to develop.

Stephen Unsworth, Southend Care director of operations, said: “This important work will determine how people’s independence can be maintained or enhanced and, in turn, support Southend Care’s progress in becoming a technology-enabled company.”

Professor Roy Sandbach, TAPPI chair and former director of the National Innovation Centre for Ageing at Newcastle University, concluded: “Those chosen will provide insights from a range of settings and, most importantly, will put users at the heart of this work.

“We’ll use the TAPPI principles and co-production approach to develop digital services that address real-life problems of older people. I’m very excited to work with our six new testbed sites.”