Now, smart rooms for senior citizens in Sharjah
Touchscreen-controlled lighting, curtains, doors, TV and air-conditioner at care home
Sharjah: The Sharjah Social Services Department (SSSD) is launching new smart rooms for senior citizens residing at its Elderly Care Home.
The department is transforming all 22 group and individual rooms into smart rooms following the success of a pilot phase. Mariam Al Qatari, director of the Elderly Care Home, said the aim is to provide an attractive environment for senior citizens in all social, health, recreational and other aspects.
She added that the smart rooms provides six services including automatically operating the air conditioning, lighting, curtains, door, and TV via a tablet and pressing the specific buttons shown in the pictures.
The director added that the elderly did not face any difficulty in using the technology as most of them already have tablets for other services.
‘Jaber’ service
Mariam Al Qatari said that more than a year ago, the Elderly Care Home began transforming some of its services into smart programmes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, where regular meetings with friends and relatives were replaced by virtual meetings. The smart ‘Jaber’ service was launched through the app, which enables communicating with the elderly using voice and image through a large screen.
Jaber can handle four to five calls at the same time, during which user uses headsets. It also provides a sports programme with a coach for an hour for the elderly, as well as an hour for the employees of the care home.