Habinteg take the lead in European technology project designed to help disabled and older tenants live more independently

Habinteg Housing Association will lead on a major European research project aimed at providing technological solutions to everyday issues for disabled and older people in social housing.

The social landlord represents the UK on the I-stay@home project with partner organisations from France, Germany, Holland and Belgium and will take charge of the practical research phase of its work. 180 tenants from the participating countries, including 20 Habinteg tenants, will test out a selection of ICT products and measure their effectiveness in a household setting. Potential products that could be tested include special sensor technology to prevent falls and a high tech blood pressure monitor. This phase of research will go live from early 2014 and the results can be expected in the summer of 2014.

A recent I-stay@home survey of 200 European tenants showed that older people are keen to use new technology to help them lead more independent lives, provided that the products are affordable and user friendly. The survey revealed that 60 per cent of older people were open to using new technologies with the potential benefits including a reduction in care costs as everyday tasks become simpler and increased time available to see friends and family.

The survey also revealed that older tenants' most frequent concerns were the ability to get around, see, hear and communicate, the ability to care for their home and looking after their health care and wellbeing. These issues present significant challenges for some people as they get older but these are concerns that technology may be able to help address.

Habinteg Research and Policy Manager Glen Joseph said:

"We are delighted that Habinteg are to lead on the practical research phase of the I-stay@home project. Our research so far has shown that many tenants are willing to try out new technologies but lack of information about the products and lack of understanding about how exactly they could help tenants maintain independence at home are significant barriers for some.

"The detailed feedback that we will gather from tenants in the practical testing will be invaluable in helping us describe the positive impact of the products and services, which will be all important to increased uptake."

For full details of the work of the I-stay@home project, please visit the partnership's website at www.i-stay-home.eu. Tenant survey videos can be accessed at www.habinteg.org.uk

For media enquiries, please contact David Halliwell on 0207 822 8767 or dhalliwell@habinteg.org.uk