‘Smart homes’ will tell you to get off the sofa
THE NHS is to design “healthy homes” that nag families into better habits and keep check on the elderly.
Under a national health programme, residents will also be offered digital health trackers so they can undergo monitoring by GPS without leaving their homes.
The health and fitness schemes are being incorporated into 10 new “healthy towns” planned by the NHS. NHS England wants the ideas to be taken up across the country as it launches a national network of schemes next week.
Housing developers will be asked to embed smart technology throughout new homes to allow remote monitoring of those with health conditions, with results sent straight to GPS and hospitals.
New-build homes will contain movement sensors and other smart tech linked to a computer. Exercise and other health tips could then be flashed up on screens if activity levels fall. The system will also allow the NHS to nudge residents towards healthier choices and enrol them at local weightloss, flu and stop smoking clinics.
The ideas are part of a national programme which could also offer shoppers discounts for hitting weekly “step targets”, provide free bikes and create outdoor assault courses.
Professor Sir Malcolm Grant, chairman of NHS England, told The Daily Telegraph: “The Healthy New Towns project is coming up with new and exciting ideas for healthy living and we want to make sure everyone benefits.
“If the big housebuilders join us it means that millions of people, as well as their children and grandchildren, could be living happier, healthier lives in the towns and villages of the future.”
So far 10 sites covering 65,000 new homes have been designated as Healthy New Towns. They include Bicester, where plans involve outdoor
gyms which act as “human power stations” to charge mobile phones.
Health officials say government ambitions for one million new homes mean there is potential to extend the schemes widely across the country.
In test schemes, thousands of patients with heart conditions have been given free devices, allowing them to send regular fingerprick test results directly to their GPS. The “smart tech” incorporating Bluetooth infrastructure, being piloted in Darlington, Co Durham, will also be used to provide sensors to track vulnerable patients, with alerts sent to carers if a dementia sufferer who was prone to wandering left their home.
Software will also be used to check on the elderly, with alerts sent if there are suspicious changes to routines, such as the failure to put the kettle on in the morning.
Health experts said the initiatives could reduce pressure on GPS and hospitals, as well as being far more convenient for patients.
The mobile devices have been given to 30,000 heart patients in cities including Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle and Hull, with plans to sign up thousands more people in areas designated as “healthy new towns”, starting with a new housing development in County Durham.