Over the past few months, staff at Stravanan Road have been working in partnership with SOL Connect to redesign the night time support with the 4 people who currently pay for and receive sleepover support.

The outcome has been a system by which four flats have been installed with ‘hubs’ (small screens with big green buttons, which, when pressed, connect the individual with a member of staff) and door sensors, which alert SOL of any movement in and out of the person’s house or close.

During the trial, sleepover staff have continued to be present through the night to provide assistance as necessary. The purpose of the trial is to collect data that will be used to assess the effectiveness of the system and whether it may be put into practice in the future. So far, the response has been very positive: Peter Duff has so far embraced using the big green button and Carol pressed the button to tell SOL that she was going out. In another instance, SOL swiftly contacted Fair Deal to alert us that someone had unexpectedly entered Carol’s house – even if it did just turn out to be the cleaner!

We hope that this will be an enlightening project, which will give us some insight into how technology may enhance people’s lives. SOL has been very complimentary of the staff at Stravanan Road and, so far, the process has been very smooth. Congratulations everyone on getting this far!

Ann Marie Docherty

Chief Executive