Housing providers are so innovative – let’s prove it
Here I describe the thinking around a new Housing LIN paper launched today, which brings to life the many ways in which technology can be used to underpin the delivery of improved housing with care in the South West. So the Housing LIN Technology enabled housing with care: Scenarios document, aims to bring those stories to life.
We hear a lot about the challenges facing housing organisations, whether it’s related to reducing income, rent caps, an ageing & challenging resident base, the ever changing role of the housing officer, and worries about making smart investment decisions on infrastructure.
However we don’t hear too much about the fantastic, positive work going on in the housing world. I continue to be amazed at the wealth of innovation that is instigated and carried out by housing organisations.
That’s one of the reasons, the Housing LIN (Learning and Improvement Network) South West Leadership Set wanted to know more about what’s out there when it comes to “technology enabled housing with care”. They said that people don’t honestly know what you mean when you talk about technology and how it can help people. So we decided that perhaps a better way of describing technology is to talk about real issues people face and link that to how technology can support.
So the Housing LIN Technology enabled housing with care: Scenarios document launched on 10 March, aims to bring those stories to life. From technology on buses, social prescribing, using smart phones to keep in touch with friends and family, enhancinhttps://www.housinglin.org.uk/g social contact all the way to saving lives, preventing hospital admission, reducing carer stress and enabling people to live life to the full, technology is changing lives for the better.
The document is a culmination of the South West Housing LIN Leadership Set’s shared learning across the region, and sets out a series of scenarios to demonstrate the improved outcomes from incorporating technology into the housing solution for different individual circumstances. It is structured around the following themed case studies:
- Dementia
- Social isolation and loneliness
- Falling
- End of life
- Health
- Community Hubs
- Ageing
- Fuel poverty
- Reablement
We hope this paper provides some valuable examples of the many ways in which different types of technology can be used to underpin the delivery of improved housing with care, and how the South West region has creatively utilised a range of technologies, both established and new, to enhance people’s lives.
Although it is beyond the scope of this document to answer all of the questions which have been raised during the course of its creation, we hope it has gone some way towards providing practical, proven solutions to common challenges. Thank you so much to the Housing LIN SW Leadership Set for all their fantastic examples.
