With Europe currently sweltering under 40 degree heat and the UK experiencing its hottest June on record this year, meteorologists are forecasting the chance of Britain experiencing a hot summer is now 45% - 2.3 times the normal figure.

While heatwaves can affect anyone, it's well known that older and more vulnerable people, for example those living with long term conditions, such as COPD, and people living with Alzheimer's disease, are more at risk of dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke³.

Dawn Watson, Lead Clinical Application Specialist at Doncaster-based Tunstall Healthcare, discusses why technology should be integrated into the construction of houses and other buildings to protect vulnerable people across Yorkshire during a heatwave.

Integrating technology

The digital transition is underway, with telecom providers working together to cease the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) and switch over to voice over internet protocol (VoIP). This is already having a transformative impact on health, housing and social care service provision.

It's important to consider this transition alongside the change in our weather. The time is right for organisations to understand the best ways to deploy technology to support health and care needs in a range of environments, and the benefits of considering its inclusion as part of construction design.

By integrating digital solutions into buildings at construction stage, we'll be able to use AI and data-driven insight to optimise population health management and improve quality of life. Digital innovation and integration, when incorporated early on, can be used to monitor people for changes in behaviour and emergency events, such as falls. This is particularly important to reduce the likelihood of people suffering with heat stroke or becoming dehydrated and potentially requiring hospitalisation.

Available solutions

There are a huge range of pioneering digital solutions available that can be integrated into buildings during construction. Take up should be encouraged as the UK continues to face greater fluctuations in weather and extreme temperatures.

Tunstall's Lifeline Digital^TM is the next generation smart hub that supports IP alarm protocols and works with a range of unobtrusive sensors to trigger alarms in the case of personal or environmental events. This includes bed occupancy, temperature changes and motion, all of which can be impacted by heatwaves and other extreme weather events. Specific movements and events that require emergency assistance can be detected which are then responded to by a monitoring centre.

For more information on the solutions that are available to be integrated into buildings at construction and protect vulnerable people during extreme weather, please visit www.tunstall.co.uk/technology-enabled-care.