How TAPPI is helping to shape the future of independent living at Bield Housing

As Head of BR24 and Assistive Technology Development at Bield Housing & Care, I’m passionate about how digital resources within telecare and assistive technology can transform lives. It’s been a rewarding journey leading Bield’s BR24 Alarm Receiving Centre, which monitors over 18,000 citizens across Scotland, with a main goal of empowering individuals to live independently and safely in their homes.

Over the past five years I have been involved in many cutting-edge innovation projects and one of the most exciting initiatives I’ve had the pleasure of being involved in is the TAPPI project—Technology for our Ageing Population: Panel for Innovation. TAPPI for Bield focuses on how technology can support our tenants in housing and care. For me, this project isn’t just about embracing the future of digital technology, it’s about using the right tools and resources to understand barriers to digital literacy, work collaboratively to remove these barriers, and increase knowledge on how we can utilise the right technology at the right time to support independent living at home for as long as possible.

Bield’s participation in TAPPI, the only Scottish organisation involved within the UK initiative, allowed us to showcase innovations that support independent living, such as our Tech Hub at Westport, Linlithgow, where we co-produced an interactive living space with our tenants which comprises of both consumer and technology enabled care devices. We’ve also been trialling predictive and analytical AI technology in tenant’s properties to utilise data driven decision making to allow proactive interventions, supporting to prevent crises moments from occurring before they happen. These efforts align directly with the foundations of the TAPPI principles of co-production, putting tenants at the heart of decision-making and helping them shape the services that matter most to them.

This year, as we celebrate Scottish Housing Day, I’m looking forward to diving deeper into TAPPI’s findings and discussing how these learnings have supported Bield implement our corporate strategy with a view of implementing our new digital design, our strategic asset management strategy, and our independent living mindset which supports aging in place through a menu of tailored services including a right tech, at the right time approach. I’ll be joining an upcoming HAPPI Hour webinar to explore how technology can enhance independent living and what’s next for Bield’s innovation. It’s an exciting time to be at the forefront of such transformative changes, and I’m looking forward to sharing more about how TAPPI can shape the future of housing.

---

This blog has been published to coincide with Scottish Housing Day 2024.

Be sure to join Gary Baillie and other experts for the upcoming HAPPI Hour webinar titled Housing LIN Scotland presents... Showcasing innovation and good practice, taking place on International Day for Older Persons (1st October 2024). 

For more information on the TAPPI project, please visit: /tappi/ 

To learn more about Assistive Technology, please visit /Topics/browse/loneliness-and-isolation/assistive-technology/