With Europe currently sweltering under 40 degree heat and the UK experiencing its hottest June on record this year1, meteorologists are forecasting the chance of Britain experiencing a hot summer is now 45% – 2.3 times the normal figure2.
While heatwaves can affect anyone, it’s well known that more vulnerable people are more at risk of dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke3. Legally people who need to move because of a disability, medical or welfare requirement are entitled to social housing and landlords and housing associations therefore have a duty of care to protect their tenants. Housing associations have previously revealed the measures they have in place to support tenants through extreme heat, highlighting that this should be a priority4.
Dawn Watson, Lead Clinical Application Specialist at Tunstall Healthcare, discusses why technology should be integrated into the construction of buildings, including social housing, to protect vulnerable residents of social housing through extreme weather.
Integrating technology
The digital transition is underway, with telecom providers working together to cease the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) and switch over to voice over internet protocol (VoIP). This is already having a transformative impact on health, housing and social care service provision.
It’s important to consider this transition alongside the change in our weather. The time is right for social housing providers to understand the best ways to deploy technology to support health and care needs in a range of environments, and the benefits of considering its inclusion as part of construction design.
By integrating digital solutions into buildings at the construction stage, we’ll be able to use AI and data-driven insight to optimise population health management and improve quality of life. Digital innovation and integration, when incorporated early on, can be used by social housing providers to monitor vulnerable residents for changes in behaviour and emergency events. This is particularly important to reduce the likelihood of people suffering with heat stroke or becoming dehydrated and potentially requiring hospitalisation.
What are the next steps?
When it comes to initial planning for social housing provision, local authorities, construction firms and technology providers need to align on the requirements for the citizens for whom they care for. As well as individual needs, wider considerations need to inform design and implementation including the impacts of the climate.
As people live longer and our weather continues to become more extreme, we will see the demands on our services continue to grow. Technology has the ability to reduce this, and empower people to remain independent for longer with better health outcomes. With a growing number of solutions available, selecting, commissioning and implementing the right option can be complex; but by collaborating with specialists at every point of the journey, we stand a better chance of delivering housing that can withstand extreme weather events.
For more information Tunstall’s solutions that are available to be integrated into buildings at construction and protect vulnerable people during extreme weather, please visit www.tunstall.co.uk/technology-enabled-care.