Supporting Community Integration Through Smart Technology

The Smart Homes demonstration initiative supports tenants with severe mental health issues.

The project objective is to establish and evaluate smart homes in the community to assist people with mood and psychotic disorders. Through prompts and other supports, “smart” systems are designed to help tenants to live independently in stable affordable housing.

A pilot demonstration in hospital apartments is expanded for testing into the community for eventual replicable use across Canada. The result will be better community integration of tenants with mental illnesses, of particular interest in remote and rural areas.

DEMONSTRATIONS OUTCOMES

This demonstration project plans to establish and evaluate smart homes in the community to assist people with mood and psychotic disorders. The goal is to provide a replicable solution for housing instability among people living with severe mental illnesses.

Supports are needed for people experiencing functional and cognitive limitations related to organization, memory and problem solving in order to maintain housing. These people can live alone or with others.

After establishing a first-of-its-kind smart hospital apartment prototype through St. Joseph’s Health Care London , the apartments are being introduced in the community for further evaluation. Eight affordable housing units at Canadian Mental Health Association Middlesex (CMHA) and London Middlesex Housing Corporation (LMHC) will be outfitted with tenant-specific smart home technology.

These technologies will assist with:

• self-assessment of symptoms,
• appointment and medication reminders
• increase communication with healthcare practitioners

This type of support is expected to:

• encourage the tenants’ independence and community integration
• increase housing stability; reducing the potential for homelessness
• decrease health and social service utilization
• improve overall health

The project will provide evidence on community integration and health outcomes, as well as use of health, social, and justice services. The team anticipates that participants will experience greater levels of independence and autonomy in maintaining housing and self-care for mental health and chronic illnesses.