The retirement living landscape is rapidly changing as technology advances and sustainability becomes an increasingly pressing concern. Burnham Waters is one such community that has embraced both of these trends, creating a model for what retirement living should look like in the future. As project director of the Essex-based Burnham Waters, Ian Holloway has been at the forefront of this transformation, overseeing the development of a community that prioritises smart home technology and sustainable living.
Creating a comfortable, convenient, and eco-friendly retirement living experience involves leveraging the latest technology. In Burnham Waters’ case, this refers to their ground-breaking fall detection and health monitoring system. This takes the form of a ceiling lamp – sleek and discrete – and is supplied by Nobi, a European provider of innovative technologies in elderly care.
Around a third of those in the UK aged 65 and over, and around half of all people aged 80 and over, fall at least once a year. Furthermore, 50% of the elderly who lay on the floor for longer than one hour could die within six months of the fall. Offering help as quickly as possible is crucial and can save lives.
Where a resident of Burnham Waters elects to install Nobi and has a fall in their home, the intelligent lamp will detect this immediately and speak to them, asking if they are okay. In the event of no response or a call for help, the intelligent lamp is pre-programmed to alert their caregivers – in this case, the care providers at Burnham Waters – and will be able to open the resident’s door in the case of an emergency.
The lamp also takes repetitive administrative tasks out of the hands of carers, freeing up time for essential duties to be carried out efficiently within the retirement community. Nobi can, for example, be integrated with devices like smart scales and blood pressure monitors to automatically log health measurements and other important data. Eventually, through its continuous optimisation of its own processes, it will help predict when things might go wrong so that preventative action can be taken.
Speaking about the need for Nobi, Ian Holloway said: “Our aim is for all residents to be able to live their lives without the need for stress or worry about what the future might bring. Our care providers at Burnham Waters are there to give the residents and their extended families the security and peace of mind they’re looking for and deserve.”
Healthcare systems in the UK, like many other places, are currently suffering from an acute shortage of healthcare personnel. Speaking on this, Ian Holloway goes on to say: “Through the implementation of Nobi, Burnham Waters is able to support our care providers by allowing them to focus on their core tasks, confident in the knowledge that the smart lamp is watching over residents, and that they will be alerted in the event of a fall.”
On top of the implementation of smart technology, however, Burnham Waters are also committed to reducing their environmental impact. The community has been thoughtfully designed to enhance the lives of its residents, whilst instilling sustainability throughout the process. This will, in turn, instill a sense of calm and tranquility within the community for residents, allowing them to feel closer and more connected to nature within this ecologically inspired countryside setting.
Speaking on this, Holloway said: “We have sought advice from expert consultants who have worked passionately to ensure this development enhances local ecology, whilst being positively landscaped and fully sustainable.
“The most recent ecology and biodiversity reports for the final phase of the development demonstrates a net gain of 95.7% in ecological value terms by area and 22.6% by linear measurement, when compared with the existing farmland, which is very significantly in excess of the national 10% – soon to be introduced in new legislation.”
The Burnham Waters team are confident that these features and initiatives will enhance the residents’ quality of life and reduce their environmental impact. The long-term goal, outside of the development itself, is to encourage other retirement communities to learn from this example and adopt similar strategies to create a more sustainable and technology-driven future for the growing senior sector.
