The theme of Scottish Housing Day 2024 is Homes for Life, looking at how the housing sector can better support people in later life as their needs and priorities change.
This might require some simple adaptations to make homes more accessible, technology to support day-to-day activities, or planning to move to a more suitable home that’s closer to family or local amenities, or easier to manage.
The Kingdom Group is proud to celebrate the work we do to support customers in later life, across specific housing developments and with staff training.
Townhead House, Primrose Place, Alloa
Primrose Place is an award-winning dementia-friendly development for over 55s in Alloa town centre. This was an innovative project developed in partnership with Clackmannanshire Council to support their sustainable ageing policy, created to help people live independently in their own homes for longer, delivering 60 new homes on a key town centre regeneration site.
Built with specific dementia-friendly design elements and a number of wheelchair-adapted flats, the homes are very much dementia-friendly rather than dementia-only to allow for a vibrant mixed community. It also means that residents who may require these supports in the future will not face the disruption of a future move.
A strong community spirit has been established by the residents at Primrose Place, with Kingdom’s support, with tenants taking on some of the gardening and arranging social events in the grounds.
We regularly host visits to Primrose Place so that other landlords can see the design features in detail and understand the difference they make without substantially changing the look and feel of the development.
“Thank you Kingdom for my new flat in Alloa. It has everything I need to live here happily. I feel secure and safe and there are nice gardens to sit out in.”
“I recently moved into my new flat at Primrose Place and I love it. It is modern and spacious and it will help me to live independently for as long as I can”.
Earlsgate Scone
In Scone, Kingdom’s Earlsgate development is another over 55s community which has communal areas to encourage socialising amongst the residents to combat potential social isolation in later life.
As the physical design of this development encourages a strong sense of community the vision was to create a co-housing community where residents could participate in the decisions that affect the shared aspects of the community.
The committee have hosted charity coffee mornings, requested additional safety features at the property and developed the garden and social areas to create community hub areas where all residents can feel safe and supported.
“We are so grateful to have our mum living in such a safe, lovely, secure environment at Earlsgate. Our mum is so happy and really loves her flat”.
“I am truly lucky to live at Earlsgate. I have my dream home beside people my age and there’s always plenty to do. I enjoy the social activities, especially our coffee mornings.”
“I like my flat at Earlsgate. I can mix with others in the lounge area and watch the tv. I feel safe and secure in my flat and my neighbours are very helpful.”
Virtual Reality Training
Kingdom recognises that Homes for Life is not just about bricks and mortar but also about how staff support customers as they age. The Kingdom Ageing and Dementia Group have partnered with Age Scotland and staff across the Group are receiving unique training using Virtual Reality (VR) headsets to help them understand some of the challenges customers can face.
The VR training helps staff gain a better understanding and awareness of what it feels like to have these impairments as you get older, or are diagnosed with dementia. This helps staff appreciate how small things such as flooring colour, door way openings, or the way instructions are worded can make a big difference to someone’s life
It is often these practical changes – many of which are incorporated in Primrose Place and Earlsgate – that support independent living for people in later life.
To find out more about how we can help you with a home for life, call 01592 630922.
