The presentation of a large flat-screen computer to Armidale’s Autumn Lodge aged care facility by Silcar Communications, the company that laid fibre-optic cables in Armidale for NBN Co, was the occasion for a demonstration of the benefits that connection to the National Broadband Network will bring to Autumn Lodge residents.
Malcolm Montiero, the General Manager of Silcar Communications said at the presentation event earlier this month that his company liked “to leave something with a community” after such a project. “We couldn’t think of anything better than this touch-screen computer for Autumn Lodge,” Mr Montiero said.
Alun Davies, Head of the NBN Workgroup and Regional Communications Advocate for New England, said that Autumn Lodge would be fully connected to the NBN in July.
“It will be one of the first aged care facilities in Australia to be connected to the network,” he said.
The University of New England’s Associate Professor Stephen Winn, who leads a collaborative project that is using new communications technology to help elderly people live independently in their own homes, used the flat-screen computer to demonstrate the capability of the new technology. A live connection to the Armidale GP Dr Gary Baker gave Autumn Lodge residents an idea of its possibilities.
“You’ll be able to consult a doctor who might not be able to get here to see you,” Dr Winn told them.
His project, in collaboration with CSIRO, Neuroscience Research Australia, and Autumn Lodge, and supported by the Australian Government’s NBN-Enabled Education and Skills Services Program, is called “Smarter Safer Homes”. The project team will use Autumn Lodge’s village units as a trial site for the use of the NBN-related technology by elderly people living independently.
“This will provide evidence of the effectiveness of such technology in improving people’s quality of life by helping them to live independently, monitoring their health and wellbeing, and keeping them in touch with their families,” Dr Winn said.
