Good practice:

Smarter Homes

The Smarter homes-initiative pay attention to smart solutions for home environment that enables elderly to continue living independently. The initiative invites companies to exhibit their products free of charge in a show-flat to reach potential customers. Elderly and their relatives, staff in the health and care sector are invited to increase their knowledge about what goods and services are available on the market.
The overall objective with the smarter home initiative is to contribute to a better health for elderly in Dalarna, with a focus on safety and personal injuries. Ultimately, this is about postponing the timing for entering retirement homes and labour-intensive care.
The show flat is located in the municipal housing company’s building for elderly and disabled.
The main activity is to attract beneficiaries and companies to the show-flat;
-Study visits and “open house”-events for private individuals and representatives from the municipalities, associations etc.
-Information about the show-flat for existing and new companies and retailers. The stakeholders have agreements with several companies, but they need to attract new exhibitors to get a constant flow of new products.
Stakeholders: Falun municipality, CupperCity, a public housing Company, Region Dalarna and the Regional Centre for appliances and companies that offer goods and services for a senior market. Beneficiaries: Old adults in Dalarna, their relatives and staff within Health and Welfare sect

Between Sept 2018- Jan 2019: 1 project leader, 1 IT developer, 1 IT coordinator, 3 contact persons. Approx 300 hours for steering group meetings, study visits, contact with companies and administration.
Rent, electricity and cleaning: 760 Euro/month
Furniture I-pads, Tv etc: 6000 Euro
Marketing

35 guided study visits in the show-flat and 2 “open houses” approx. 500 visitors
9 exhibitors (example Hjälpmedelsshopen, Net on Net, IKEA, Clas Ohlson, Alleato, Moveum, Bo Edin, Safe Base)
The collaboration between the stakeholders has led to increased knowledge about smart solutions for the elderly and a new way to market products for companies. There is research on technology in welfare which shows connections between independent living and better health, increased security.

Smart solutions require good connectivity and knowledge among installers and users. These conditions sometimes fail. Everybody can, just as before, get the traditional services offered by the municipalities. Freedom of choice is important!

This practice has already been transferred between municipalities in Sweden, so if you have the right technical prerequisites in the show-flat it should not be a problem.
The practice is of particular interest in those areas where new homes for older people will be built, to include the smart solutions from start.
The practice could be of interest for municipalities and companies that need more staff to the home-care services. The technical shift will change the conditions within this profession and require other skills, that may attract new target groups on the labour market.
We also want to emphasize collaboration between relevant actors - as an important success factor.