Equal Adventure, located near Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland, is a registered charity with their main aim being to continue the development of equipment, information and resources, making outdoor adventure, fieldwork and active lifestyles accessible regardless of disability.
Equal Adventure works in a number of areas to ensure that adventure is accessible to people with disabilities which includes; equipment development, training, events and information. The trading arm of the charity operates as a social enterprise to ensure that the products they develop are able to reach the people and organisations that require them through sustainable manufacture, pricing and supply.
Equal Adventure had developed and created a prototype of snow board bindings for double leg amputees and needed to complete stringent laboratory based assessments of the product to validate the bindings.However, they did not have access to such expertise or facilities and required a third party to carry out the highly specialised testing so that the new product could be developed for the market.
Equal Adventure approached Interface – The knowledge connection for business after learning about the free and impartial brokerage service they provide.
Interface worked to translate their needs into a suitable brief for Universities and research centres across Scotland. Having conducted an extensive search Interface identified the required knowledge and facilities within the University of Strathclyde. The University’s department of Design Manufacture and Engineering Management’s Industrial Projects scheme allowed a student to undertake the design, development and testing of the product over the course of an academic year.
The project provided a unique work experience opportunity giving the student direct practical industry experience and resulted in a working prototype which established the design viability.
As a result of the knowledge connection made by Interface, Equal Adventure have proved the bindings are safe for use by double leg amputees and in doing so they have been able to add another product to their range.
Suresh Paul, Principal Advocate at Equal Adventure explained, “Interface linked Equal Adventure to the expertise provided by the University of Strathclyde which has been invaluable to us and enabled us to extend our product range making outdoor adventure even more accessible to all.”
Thanks to this partnership Equal Adventure has been able to authenticate the safety elements of the prototype and have subsequently created a new product which has allowed them to enter new markets, increase sales and safeguard jobs.
Albyn Housing Society Limited began in 1973 by building homes for the incoming workers at the Invergordon smelter. Started with only a handful of staff, the Society now has 63 employees and two offices in Invergordon and Inverness and currently manages over 2,750 properties either through affordable rent or low cost home ownership schemes.
Background
Albyn Housing Society wanted to investigate the feasibility of offering Assisted Living Services to their vulnerable residents through the use of Assisted Living Technologies as part of their suite of services.
Assisted Living Technologies (ALT) are defined as those sensors, devices and communication systems that together allow the delivery of Assisted Living Services (ALS) including telehealth, telecare, wellness, digital participation and teleworking services.
Interest in telecare is growing due to concern over caring for increasing numbers of older people and the challenges of service delivery in remote and rural areas. Telecare is viewed increasingly as a means of creating efficiencies and cost savings for service providers, prolonging independence and improving quality of life for service users and supporting carers.
The Business Challenge
Interface – The knowledge connection for business facilitated a meeting between Albyn Housing Society and the Centre for Rural Health at the University of the Highlands & Islands to discuss the idea of providing Assisted Living Technologies to their vulnerable customers as part of the suite of services that they currently provide. Albyn Housing wanted to explore what the new service delivery model might look like, how it could benefit the business/customer and how it could be implemented and evaluated. They were also interested in opening up possibilities for training and job opportunities for young people in rural areas.
Having examined the conclusions and recommendations of the initial feasibility study into telecare delivery, Albyn Housing Society are looking to develop a longer term collaborative relationship that will allow them to proceed with planning and establishing a telecare service to vulnerable customers.
“Our involvement with Interface has been hugely beneficial for Albyn Housing Society Ltd as their introduction has been fundamental in developing our relationship with the Centre for Rural Health and has led to further joint work with UHI. We have already generated interest from the social housing sector in the work we have done so far…” Calum Macaulay, Cheif Executive, Albyn Housing Society
Edinburgh-based Blackwood Foundation has researched how design and technology affects the day to day lives of Scotland’s disabled population.
The nationwide research enables housing associations and disability bodies to understand the living experiences of those with a disability, sensory impairment or support requirements, through identifying what works effectively in the home environment.
The Business Challenge
In 2010, and working in partnership with Capability Scotland, The Blackwood Foundation held 11 workshops throughout Scotland to gather the views of the disabled on what pleased or frustrated them with design and technology across a range of contexts in terms of independent living.
These workshops were also observed by industry representatives from local authorities and housing associations.
The Blackwood Foundation required an academic partner to document these workshops and produce a post-project research report for future use.
The Solution
Interface facilitated an introduction between The Blackwood Foundation and Phillippa Robertson-Rieck and Nick Watson from Strathclyde’s Centre for Disability Research, School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow.
The academic team compiled data collected from 97 disabled individuals. The data itself was segmented into three technology categories – ‘generic’, ‘specific’ and ‘appropriated’.
‘Generic’ refers to technologies aimed at enabling independence such as computers, remote controls and cooking aids. ‘Specific’ refers to technologies and design, including specific domestic applications and designs, aimed at enabling independence which have been specialised for certain disabled people. ‘Appropriated’ includes examples of both design and technology where disabled people have been innovative in creating their own solutions.
This collaboration resulted in the report ‘Design and Technology as an Aid to Living Independently: Disabled people’s views and experiences’.
Key findings included:
• Inaccessibility and inappropriate design was the single most important and common design frustration, i.e. the width of fixtures and fittings, plug sockets too low down; kitchen cabinets too high or low; inappropriate door handles; inappropriate taps and inaccessible bathrooms
• Access to computers and the internet was central to the lives of many participants and the reliability of an internet connection was a major problem
• Level access was seen as a crucial design feature that facilitated independence and accessibility
The Blackwood Foundation has launched a social media site which acts an information forum for the disabled and those in the relevant disability fields to share knowledge and increase awareness of design and technology solutions available to them.
Keep up with the Blackwood Foundation here.