From single dwellings to multi-residential buildings, the number one consideration for residential design is that the home suits the occupant.
Nowhere is this convention as relative as it is with aged-care facilities, where residents
don’t just eat and sleep in-house, they actually live there.
And while most of Australia’s crop of aged-care facilities are well equipped to meet the needs and demands of their current residents, their offerings are less likely to appeal to the next generation of retirees because, quite simply, they live differently.
But when there is demand there will be supply, and aged-care facilities equipped and ready for the record number of tech-savvy baby boomers about to retire are hot on the market.
Aged-care architecture and marketing is changing to the extent that a facility is more likely to appeal to the retiring generation if it has iPhone-controlled smartTVs and tablet cafeteria menus than if it had Thursday tombola and craftday Friday. This is because technology is ingrained in the lifestyles and personalities of the retiring generation and taking it from them would kill a part of them.
Additionally, if the fear of disconnect from the community was a problem for the retiring in the past, it is only going to intensify, quite simply because baby boomers are far more connected to the community and to their technological devices than ever before.
New aged-care facilities will either cater for this demand or risk demise.
Of course the technology must still address the health and safety concerns of the nursing home and be able to balance the entertainment desires of patients with their professional care needs.
One technology offering seeing specification in aged care facilities is the Internet Protocol television or IPTV which can deliver a suite of services for patients on the one platform.
The benefits of a dedicated IPTV solution for retirement living can provide some of the best services known to retirement living through an integrated solution.
These include but are not limited to:
- Nurse call integration
- TV conference call to family and friends
- Bring your own device integration
- Integration of multiple TV and VOD sources
- Foxtel Integration
- Communication and messaging services
- Service and food ordering via TV Terminals
- Digital Signage
- Patient surveys through the TV system
- On or off-site training content for staff
Before the 21st century, young people always outnumbered the old but over the last 10 years the old have struck back and displaced younger people. And while by 2050 there will be more old people than young in the world this is not to say that the demands of people arbitrarily change as they age.
The needs of tech-savvy retirees will demand a change in aged-care design. From there it’s up to the designer and village managers to decide whether their facility offers something worth living for.
