Care Homes of the Future: Technology and Smart Design
Author: The Royal Blind Society
Published: 10 Aug 2017 - Updated: 18 Jun 2026
Publication Type: Informative
Contents: Synopsis - Definition - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates - Related Publications
Synopsis: This information examines how residential care homes are likely to be run and designed over the coming two decades as aging populations create more complex health needs. Authored by The Royal Blind Society in partnership with Royal Blind, specialists in care for people who are blind, it draws on industry research including Jane Ashcroft's observations in the Silver Chic report to outline practical shifts toward quality-led environments. The piece is useful for older adults, people with disabilities, family members, and care providers because it connects emerging assistive technologies - fall sensors, wearable health monitors, color-coded lighting for those living with dementia, and robotics - to the everyday goals of safety, independence, and longer, healthier lives in care settings.*
At a Glance
- 1 - Future care home housing may be built on a turntable so residents can be exposed to sunlight for the longest possible periods each day
- 2 - Care villages are expected to use small bridges linking gardens to combat loneliness and keep residents connected to nature and one another
- 3 - Robotic pets that respond to human touch can help calm people living with dementia, while wearable robotic suits may help those with arthritis stand and walk
- Topic Definition: Care Homes
Care homes, also known as residential care facilities or nursing homes, are housing arrangements that provide accommodation, supervision, and personal or nursing care for people - often older adults or those with disabilities - who can no longer live independently or who require ongoing support with daily activities. The care home of the future refers to the evolving model of these facilities, in which building design, assistive technologies, health monitoring devices, and robotics are integrated to improve resident safety, comfort, independence, and overall quality of life over the long term.
Introduction
As populations around the world begin to live for longer than they ever have, their individual needs related to their health become even more complex, and this is no different in the UK. What this means, is that care homes need to use greater amounts of, and more intelligent, assistive technologies. Furthermore, staff and care home providers will need to create sustainable living environments in the long-term, to ensure that patients are cared for appropriately when those in care require increasing amounts of supervision and attention.
With doubts overhanging the future of care homes, due to a lack of governmental funding, together with Royal Blind - specialists in care homes for the blind and care homes in Paisley, we assess how care homes will be run in the future, and assess the technologies that will revolutionise the way people are cared for.
Main Content
An Emphasis On Quality
In the next 20 years, research has suggested that care homes funded by both private means and social care, will emphasise quality within their ethos. This is because it has been suggested that this strategy has the potential for people to 'live healthier and longer lives', as Jane Ashcroft suggested in the Silver Chic report in the future of care homes.
More specifically, quality will preside within the care home's design, as housing will be implemented on a turntable, to help those living there be exposed to sunlight for the longest periods of time possible. As well as this, connectivity will also be a priority to help combat loneliness. To do this, care villages will use small bridges intersecting various gardens so that residents will closer to both their natural environment and other residents within the community.
Innovative Technologies
In addition to quality taking a top priority on the agenda for the future of care homes, technology is also becoming more advanced, and they are helping to ensure that patients remain safe within care homes while allowing them to live longer, healthier lives.
For example, care homes are now beginning to utilise sensors in rooms and systems within the building that alert staff when a patient has fallen, or when they have stopped moving. To help those living with dementia, clusters within buildings can be coloured variously with different lighting so that they are able to recognise their own living quarters. These types of technologies then, are specifically designed to ensure patient comfort, and help to guarantee their safety while living in care.
Care with Greater Independence
When people live within the care system, they can begin to feel as though they've lost a sense of independence; technologies of the future are enabling those with specific care requirements to live their life in a more self-sufficient way.
For example, wearable technologies in their present form can monitor heart rates, steps, and distance covered - but in the future, they will help to monitor fluid retention and respiratory rates, helping to lower hospital admissions, allowing patients to understand their own symptoms more effectively before they require medical assistance.
Robotics
As well as troubleshooting technologies, robotics will be used to help calm down dementia sufferers who have to deal with extreme stress, used within robotic pets that can respond to human touch and respond in intelligent way.
To help with specific care tasks, robots will provide general tasks such as helping patients get in and out of bed, whilst wearable robotic suits will be used to help sufferers from arthritis stand and walk, and they will also help those with severe mobility problems get around more comfortably.
Within a patients room, robotically controlled curtains alongside voice commands that also control lights, and other devices, will be used to help those who are blind and have visual impairments.
Although we aren't there yet, the future of care homes looks promising for both staff and patients. The technologies that are already being utilised, and the systems that are being proposed, will help patients lead more independent and comfortable lives so that they can live a happier and healthier life for longer.
Insights, Analysis, and Developments
Editorial Note: The vision laid out here is less about replacing human caregivers and more about giving them better tools - and giving residents back a measure of control over their own days. Sunlight-tracking buildings and garden bridges may sound aspirational, but the sensors, wearables, and assistive robotics described are already moving from concept into practice, and their real value will be measured by how well they support dignity, independence, and connection rather than by their novelty alone.Attribution/Source(s): This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by The Royal Blind Society and published on 10 Aug 2017, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.
* Editorial additions by Ian C. Langtree.