Published Friday, 13 April, 2007 at 09:53 AM
Minister for State Development, Employment and Industrial Relations
The Honourable John Mickel
SYSTEM WIRED FOR SOUND, MOVEMENT, CARE AND EMERGENCY
A Brisbane retirement village unit will be fitted out with the latest high-tech gizmos to help researchers develop a new-age alternative to hospital or nursing care.
The Kenmore Blue Care Retirement Village unit will be used as a research and development centre after State Development Minister John Mickel today announced a $100,000 grant to help fit out the unit.
Mr Mickel said the unit would allow technology researchers to evaluate a range of monitoring systems to help people with chronic illnesses, disabilities or older people to be cared for in their homes.
“With the Queensland Government’s support, Blue Care in partnership with some of the world’s leading technology and communications companies, will be able to investigate the benefits of these very sophisticated monitoring systems in the Queensland Smart Homes Initiative,” Mr Mickel said.
“The University of Southern Queensland will take a leading role in this research project.”
He said the demonstrater unit would incorporate extra monitoring systems into the existing alarm system available to people with high-care needs.
“A back-to-base monitor currently available will be extended to include smoke and gas detectors, water overflows, bed occupancy sensors that switch lights on and off when a person gets out of bed, a system that detects when a disabled patient has lost bladder control and other essential monitoring systems.”
Queensland Smart Homes Initiative Convener, University of Southern Queensland Associate Professor Jeffrey Soar, said the grant would support the research’s ultimate objective of building a national centre based on Information and Communications Technologies to support independent living and specific home care for the frail elderly, chronically ill and people with disabilities.
Mr Mickel said the use of available and emerging technologies to help care for people in their own homes would help reduce the demand for hospital beds while providing in-home patients with individually targeted care.
“But the other benefit of this R&D is the potential to fill the gap in technologies, particularly in intelligent software, that could lead to supplying markets in Japan, Hong Kong, Europe and the United States,” he said.
_________________________________
Media contact: Chris Brown 3224 7349 or Elouise Campion 3224 6784.
USQ contact: Associate Professor Jeffrey Soar, 0400 746 657
13 April 2007
The Kenmore Blue Care Retirement Village unit will be used as a research and development centre after State Development Minister John Mickel today announced a $100,000 grant to help fit out the unit.
Mr Mickel said the unit would allow technology researchers to evaluate a range of monitoring systems to help people with chronic illnesses, disabilities or older people to be cared for in their homes.
“With the Queensland Government’s support, Blue Care in partnership with some of the world’s leading technology and communications companies, will be able to investigate the benefits of these very sophisticated monitoring systems in the Queensland Smart Homes Initiative,” Mr Mickel said.
“The University of Southern Queensland will take a leading role in this research project.”
He said the demonstrater unit would incorporate extra monitoring systems into the existing alarm system available to people with high-care needs.
“A back-to-base monitor currently available will be extended to include smoke and gas detectors, water overflows, bed occupancy sensors that switch lights on and off when a person gets out of bed, a system that detects when a disabled patient has lost bladder control and other essential monitoring systems.”
Queensland Smart Homes Initiative Convener, University of Southern Queensland Associate Professor Jeffrey Soar, said the grant would support the research’s ultimate objective of building a national centre based on Information and Communications Technologies to support independent living and specific home care for the frail elderly, chronically ill and people with disabilities.
Mr Mickel said the use of available and emerging technologies to help care for people in their own homes would help reduce the demand for hospital beds while providing in-home patients with individually targeted care.
“But the other benefit of this R&D is the potential to fill the gap in technologies, particularly in intelligent software, that could lead to supplying markets in Japan, Hong Kong, Europe and the United States,” he said.
_________________________________
Media contact: Chris Brown 3224 7349 or Elouise Campion 3224 6784.
USQ contact: Associate Professor Jeffrey Soar, 0400 746 657
13 April 2007