Peoplehood

Please note the Peoplehood project has now ceased. We expect to be able to release findings from the project in the very near future.

Blackwood is very pleased to announce the launch of Peoplehood - our exciting new 3 year programme to create neighbourhoods for independent living.

We expect this project to be very significant for Blackwood’s strategic purpose and direction and could put us on the map for the next 50 years as leaders on independent living. We will be working with industry and academic leaders to explore how we can help influence healthy ageing for our customers and local residents in the community. 

The project purpose is to co-create beautiful places for independent living that offer what people need to live healthier and happier for longer and to ask questions, co-design and test new ideas with real people, so together we’ll learn what it really takes to develop thriving, healthy neighbourhoods of the future.

The Programme focuses on 5 healthy ageing challenges - learn more on how we are tackling these here.

• Designing age friendly homes that are accessible, affordable, beautiful and connected will be the primary focus.
• Sustaining physical activities by providing local people with a range of activities and equipment such electric bikes stations.
• Managing common complaints of ageing helping people through products and services to age well, feeling safe and secure in their neighbourhoods.
• Supporting social connections helping everyone to become confident online. Making the most of new and exciting technology to help people to connect in a safe and secure way.
• Creating healthy and active places will focus on making the neighbourhoods welcoming, accessible and beautiful places to live.

Where are the Peoplehoods?

The Peoplehood project will be developed in 3 areas across Scotland:

• Charleston, Dundee - Blackwood is planning on building 66 new Blackwood Homes in Charleston adding to our already considerable number in Dundee. This will give us a unique opportunity to not only explore the Peoplehood project but also play an active role in shaping it from the very foundations. 
• Cardonald, Glasgow - Cardonald is home to our Belses Care Home and a small number of homes, surrounded by a large mixture of private, council and owned homes - this will be an exploration of how we can integrate the programme and it's findings with an already established community. 
• Buckie,  Moray - Buckie is the smallest of the 3 neighbourhoods and has it's own unique challenges such as it's rural location, frequency of public transport and WiFi strength. 

Our partners are industry experts and committed to working with Blackwood and citizens to deliver healthy ageing neighbourhoods and co-design of the products and services.

 

Cisco International Ltd would like to test how its network technologies can help to reduce social isolation, improve digital literacy for vulnerable, and create a citizen-centric digital environment.

 

Carebuilder UKwill provide a digital platform that can improve lives, avoiding unnecessary reliance on expensive care systems and helping organisations invest more in prevention to save costs in the future.

 

Enterprise Rent-a-Car UK believe shared use of vehicles will enable the ageing population to have access to a range of mobility options. Keeping themselves mobile and taking away the financial burden of owning a vehicle.

 

Canon Medical Research Europe want to see how they can start to link information and systems in the home to other health and care systems and use technology to enable independent living.

 

 

The University of Edinburgh believe this aligns with their ‘Future Health and Care’ innovation theme which aims to transform how care is delivered for older people living at home or in supported care environments. It will include the use of Innovative A.I. & Machine Learning to a Value Exchange model to encourage and reward participation.

 

 The DataLab will provide data science support to Blackwood and the project partners, with expertise on AI and Data to help improve decision making and operations.

 

 CENSIS will support the project to provide expert advice and maximize the benefits of using sensor and IoT technologies to enable better model of community living for healthy ageing.

 

Mydex CIC will provide verified identity and personal data stores for the citizens taking part in the project. The Mydex PDS will enable data sharing for many of the products and services making it safe, secure and easy for our ageing population to access and use these them.

 

Lewis & Hickey Architectsbeen involved with Blackwood over a number of years now helping to develop the concept of independent living through adaptable design and integration of technology in the Blackwood House and Design Guide.