Habinteg request for information: ICT for independent living

Published by Alex Perry for Habinteg Housing Association in Housing

Habinteg Housing Association is calling for suppliers to nominate information communication technology (ICT) products or services designed to make life easier for older and disabled people. Submissions will be considered for inclusion in a new database of resources as part of the European I-stay@home project in which Habinteg is the UK partner.

The I-stay@home project is part funded by the EU via the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Interreg IVB NWE programme and aims to identify, select and test a range of affordable ICT solutions that can assist disabled and older people to continue living independently in their home.

The first phase of project has identified how tenants feel ICT solutions can help them, as well as some of the barriers to using such technology.  This second phase aims to identify technologies that are currently on the market. Some products and services will then be live tested with tenants enabling the project team to develop a best practice guide to the most effective technologies in North Western Europe from a social landlord perspective. In its final phase the project will produce an online catalogue of ICT products and suppliers for use by housing providers and the general public.

Glen Joseph, I-stay@home project manager for Habinteg, said, “This is a great opportunity for companies to get their products and services talked about. We’re really looking forward to finding out how tenants get on with the new technologies and which products have the best potential to make a difference to their lives. With the populations across Europe ageing at an increasing rate, we believe that making this information available has the potential to impact the quality of life of the growing number of older and disabled people in all our communities.”

Companies with such products or services can submit them to the I-stay@home project by providing their product details at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ISAHRequestForInformation.

Or go to Habinteg’s website: www.habinteg.org.uk

Submissions should be made no later than 16 November 2012.

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For further information about I-stay ICT products and services please contact:

Glen Joseph, I-stay@home Project Manager: 020 7822 8713 or gjoseph@habinteg.org.uk

Donnie Orr, I-stay@home Research Assistant: 020 7822 78748 or dorr@habinteg.org.uk

For media related enquiries please contact:

Alex Perry, Senior Communications Officer : 020 7822 8729 or aperry@habinteg.org.uk

Christina McGill, Head of Communications: 020 7822 8715 or cmcgill@habinteg.org.uk

Notes to editors

1.   The Istay@home project is funded by the EU (INTERREG IVB North West Europe programme). There are fifteen consortium partners based in five countries: Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and the UK (Habinteg is the only UK partner).

1.   Habinteg is a leading national provider of affordable accessible homes and support services. We champion inclusion by providing sustainable neighbourhoods of Lifetime Homes and wheelchair standard properties for disabled and non-disabled people to share and enjoy. We use our expertise to challenge negative social attitudes, promote the rights of disabled people and improve accessibility standards within housing.

Since 1970, our thoughtful designs and on-site support have enabled tenants to achieve and sustain independent living. Habinteg has over 3300 homes across 81 local authorities. One in three of our properties are designed specifically for wheelchair users, and the majority of our general needs homes have been built to an accessible or Lifetime Homes Standard.

www.habinteg.org.uk

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www.i-stay-home.eu