Try digitally enhanced daily contact - offer alarms on a case by case basis only Remember that 3 out of 4 people do not wear or carry a pendant alarm some or all of the time. Even then, individuals may be unwilling or unable to activate them in an incident. Pull cords are even more limited in their effectiveness. Housing providers may therefore consider a different approach to their duty of care - ‘No news’ is definitely not always good news when it comes to confirming the health and safety of residents. Perhaps consider that digitally enhanced daily contact, establishing real contact either through the use of technology (OKEachDay button) or through a phone call, with a resident each day, once or twice a day, will increase the chance of discovering an incident. For example, if someone requires help or is incapacitated, a reactive alarm service will not help if the device cannot be reached or is not being worn. Furthermore, if proactive daily contact is deployed in the right way, those touchpoints and conversations with residents can provide valuable information to help you deliver better health and safety, detect changing housing needs and improve overall customer care. Acknowledging and accepting this can materially affect whether a housing provider chooses to invest in those devices in the same way as it has done historically, or to take a more selective approach to their provision. Consider wearable tech For residents who do not routinely wear and engage with an alarm, housing providers should strongly consider making “alarms” available on an assessed or as needed basis, and not by default. If there are residents that would definitely benefit from an alarm, there are now many alternatives, including mobile phones with panic buttons on them (which because they are mobile phones are more likely to be carried) and wrist worn devices that look like some of the popular smart fitness trackers, that incorporate fall detection, activity monitoring and more. Many of these options are already designed to work after Digital Switchover. 13 Digital Switchover
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