Housing of the Future blog - February 2021

The link between where a person lives and the impact this can have on their physical and mental wellbeing has always been strong. In fact in their joint report published last year entitled ‘Homes, Health and Covid 19’ the King’s Fund and the Centre for Ageing Better argued that ‘housing is a significant social determinant of health’ and that the current Covid 19 pandemic has only strengthened this link.

At a time when people are being forced to spend more time in their homes, the impact this can have on them if that home is not decent has been exacerbated. Leeds City Digital Partnership Team’s Housing of the Future project will investigate this issue and how connected devices can be used to improve both the internal environment of the property, and also the health of the people who are living there.

Sensors are being installed in a number of the Council’s properties to measure indicators such as temperature and humidity to get a picture of what the internal environment is like. The data from these sensors will be analysed and where issues are developing then preventative maintenance can be undertaken to put things right.

The GovTech Catalyst Project has enabled us to work with two tech companies, Aware Technologies and HomeLink to look at how sensors can provide information about our properties and how that data can be interpreted. For more information on this take a look at this article from UK Authority

While it is safe to assume that by improving the internal environment we will be improving the general health of citizens, we also want to explore how technology can support citizens with specific health conditions to manage them better and continue to live independently.

Again Internet of Things technology (IoT) will provide data about residents’ health and wellbeing which can be analysed, trends identified and action taken. We want to understand how connected devices and the data they produce can enable citizens to be more involved in their care and support them to make informed decisions about how they manage their conditions.

Finally, the project will also investigate how a ‘connected space’ can help combat digital exclusion. The pandemic has forced some services to move online which has created another barrier for many citizens. The connected space, which could be in a community centre or GP’s surgery, will be a place where people can access those digital services.

It will be a space where citizens can learn the skills they need to feel confident when doing things online, where they can access health services in a safe, trusted and confidential location or where young people can access online learning away from other distractions.

I would be interested to from others who are looking at similar uses of IoT technology.