The National Care Forum (NCF) and one of its members, Housing 21, are part of a successful £75,000 funding bid led by Wiltshire County Council to explore how digital technology can be best used to support older adults’ wellbeing and independence.

Housing 21’s Dairy View, an extra care housing scheme in Wiltshire, will be retrofitted with a suite of technology which will be evaluated over the course of the pilot. Residents will be given shared responsibility, alongside staff, to make decisions about the technology.

The project involves partnership working between Wiltshire County Council, Housing 21, Appello, the National Care Forum and Aquarate. NCF will be drawing on the learning from its successful Hubble Project which explored how to successfully introduce, use and evaluate assisted living technology.

The funding is part of the pioneering TAPPI project (Technology for our Ageing Population: Panel for Innovation) which aims to improve the way technology is used in housing and care for older people through ten practical principles.

Wiltshire is one of six testbeds as part of a wider project involving other housing providers across the UK.

Led by the Housing Learning and Improvement Network (Housing LIN), the TEC Services Association (TSA) and funded by the Dunhill Medical Trust, the TAPPI project will be co-produced with residents of the various testbeds over the next 12 – 15 months. 

Each housing organisation will engage a diverse range of older people to test different devices, apps and systems across a variety of housing settings. Residents will be given shared responsibility, alongside staff, to make decisions about which digital support services to develop.

Professor Vic Rayner OBE, CEO of the NCF said:

“We know that technology can and should play a part in supporting people to live the lives that they want. This project starts at the right place, with people at its heart. The NCF has taken a leading role in supporting the successful implementation of technology in a wide range of settings, including people’s homes, and are thrilled to work alongside colleagues who are committed to learning, sharing and developing an understanding of what the future holds.”

Professor Roy Sandbach OBE, TAPPI Chair and former Director of the National Innovation Centre for Ageing, Newcastle University said:

“The TAPPI principles will only be of value if they are applied in practice, and I’m thrilled that many housing and care organisations applied to become TAPPI testbeds. 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 a 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.”

For further details on TAPPI2, visit https://www.housinglin.org.uk/TAPPI2  

Note to Editors:

• The National Care Forum brings together 160 of the UK’s leading social care organisations, representing large numbers of care providers, offering thousands of services across the country, which are not for profit and always at the heart of community provision. Collectively, these organisations deliver more than £2.2 billion of social care and support to more than 217,000 people in 8,300 settings. The NCF membership body collectively employs more than 117,000 staff and 14,000 volunteers.
• More information is available on the National Care Forum at www.nationalcareforum.org.uk. @NCFCareForum @vicrayner @NCF_Liz
• For enquiries, please contact Edna Petzen edna.petzen@nationalcareforum.org.uk
• TAPPI: The first phase of TAPPI concluded in 2021, examining current practice and setting out ten practical principles for using technology in housing and care for older people. Find out more about the principles here: https://www.housinglin.org.uk/TAPPI1/. The second phase of TAPPI will trial the use of these principles in people’s homes over a 12-15 months period through to September 2023.
• The Housing Learning and Improvement Network (LIN) is a sophisticated network bringing together housing, health and social care professionals in England, Wales, and Scotland to exemplify innovative housing solutions for an ageing population. The Housing LIN is recognised by government and the housing with care sector as a leading ‘knowledge hub’ on specialist housing. housinglin.org.uk
• The Technology Enabled Care Services Association (TSA) is the representative body for technology enabled care (TEC) services across the UK, working on behalf of and advising organisations including telecare and telehealth service providers, suppliers, housing associations, care providers, emergency services, academia, charities, government bodies and health and social care commissioners. tsa-voice.org.uk
• The Dunhill Medical Trust funds the remarkable science and the radical social change needed for healthier older age. The Trust invests in those who have great ideas and methods for improving the health and well-being of older people and in making the connections which can help them to flourish. www.dunhillmedical.org.uk