Aged care facility gets back to the future with Omniscreen

The rise of an ageing population means that retirement living options and facilities are growing in complexities of services, demand and technology solutions. The Australian Bureau of Statistics forecasts that by 2050 those aged 65 or over will make up nearly one-quarter of the population. Significantly between now and 2050, the proportion of Australians aged 85 years or older will more than double to 4.2 percent.

Meanwhile, globally, there will be two billion people aged 60 or older by 2050, housing and facilities will be paramount concerns to all economies. In the retirement homes of the future, they will be more high tech village, than lo-fi haven.

In many retirement homes in France including the Henry-IV retirement home in Toulouse, craft afternoons have been replaced by sessions on the Wii, the Nintendo games console. Recent studies reveal that playing video games delays the ageing process among the over-50s significantly – in one year, players can lower their brain age by three to four years.

Age also means a loss of physical mobility. Home automation, or IoT-enabled smart homes, offer a way of using technology to overcome such handicaps, for example with remote-controlled domestic appliances, more ergonomically designed appliances.

Australian company Evermore Living is developing retirement villages with the needs of the future aging population at its heart. Last year they completed construction of a $30 million dollar retirement village in the heart of Forster. Evermore Living’s CEO Coyne Graham said with the support of Forster Tuncurry residents and our technology partners we have delivered a state of the art retirement village.

The village also features consulting rooms for GPs and specialists, and nurses will be provided for residents as well as care providers seven days a week and 24/7 emergency call systems.

The facility also features security gated with CCTV footage and undercover parking.

IPTV technology specialist CombiTel has deployed its Omniscreen solution to the facility, implementing it over a year ago. It was such a success that it has grown with the expansion of the aged care facility servicing an increasing number of residents as new units are completed.

Not only do they enjoy clear TV pictures and easy-to-use equipment, the system provides integrated Digital Signage functionality and purpose-built applications for aged care such as Dining Menu.
The Omniscreen solution improves the quality of aged care services by providing residents with a simple-to-use, engaging and empowering information and entertainment system.

The system was ergonomically designed as aged care specific with remote controls that are comfortable, easy and enjoyable to use.

The interactive system allows staff to focus on client care and wellbeing, by reducing the required IT management costs by up to 50%.