A specialty niche in the home tech arena serves homeowners seeking universal design solutions. By Ed Wenck, CEDIA
As technological advances help aging relatives stay in their homes longer, two areas of critical concern are the kitchen and bath. Slips, falls, burns, and even medication monitoring are all issues that need to be addressed in these parts of the home.
Ric Johnson has made a career out of providing solutions that can extend the independence of older relatives — and help their adult children sleep better at night. Johnson, founder of Right at Home Technologies, is a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) in the state of Ohio. Although Johnson now specializes in assisting Alzheimer’s and early onset dementia patients and their families, the systems he installs have the potential for broad application in the rapidly growing “Aging in Place” market.
Johnson tells that this type of build or remodel will need a healthy, wired, backbone. “While we have a lot of wireless devices and apps, they need a robust Wi-Fi network … We find that providing an enterprise-grade router and switch, along with properly placed and calibrated Wireless Access Points (WAPs), allows our wireless devices to connect clearly. We use a backbone of Category 6 cabling with runs of fiber to very specific locations such as bathroom, bedroom and kitchen.”
Johnson and his team run wire paths in hallways, baths, bedrooms and kitchen cabinets for targeted purposes. “When we have an individual that tends to wander at night, we place pressure pads along the edge of the bed or in the bathroom. Those pads trigger program notifications if a motion detector is tripped in the nighttime hours, sending an email or text message to caregivers and family members. While we provide a wireless pill minder, we also monitor the medicine or kitchen cabinet where those items are kept with a small hard-wired door sensor. We monitor for falls and slips with an RFID bracelet and accelerometer, which has multiple hard-wire readers placed around the house.”
Another aspect: proper lighting. “In all of our projects, we start with developing a lighting plan around the family’s lifestyle,” Johnson notes. “As we age, our eyesight begins to reduce, thus the need for more lighting. LED fixtures and replacement lamps with the proper color hue and lumens are important, as is how we control them. We work to get the most natural lighting possible by utilizing blinds and shades.”
As with an audio/video installation, a properly ventilated equipment rack tucked away in its own lockable closet is often a must. These projects require dedicated wiring space in bathrooms and kitchens (away from water and plumbing), light switches placed lower on the walls, and receptacle outlets in higher-than-usual locations to make everything easily accessible for a user with limited mobility. Security, ease of use, and proper cabling techniques to ensure that signal interference is eliminated are other factors that a technology professional makes sure to consider.
Homeowners and kitchen/bath designers and remodelers can collaborate with a home technology expert on these projects, and may find one in their area by visiting www.cedia.com.
