Autumn comes to us all

We had occasion to visit a sheltered housing development at the weekend.

I won't go into the detail because it's rather personal, but a number of things struck me, especially when speaking to some of the residents.

I was profoundly impressed with the strength and courage exhibited. It can't be easy to accept that, as time goes on, you can become less able to cope on your own and sometimes need help from others, and yet these people had. The development itself was rather good and saw itself as a safety net rather than an integral part of the residents lives - this allowed them to go on living their lives in the fullest way possible for as long as possible and there is a certain dignity in that. But the services are there if and when needed and there is a warden on duty for emergencies.

Perhaps the only slightly disquieting thing was that the housing development was situated behind a nursing home, which did rather give a stark reminder of how things could end up for the residents, but it also enabled them to be very flexible in the levels of support provided.

But to concentrate on the services provided by the care organisation would be to miss a big part of what these things are supposed to be about. Community is a key concept which came up time and again. The residents could and did organise their own clubs, went around to each others houses for coffee or even just waved to each other from the door, but it transforms an otherwise isolating existance into one where sharing and involvement play a valuable part. They have the best of both worlds, the privacy of their own homes and the community of the communal gardens and proximity to others. Not unlike the rest of us.

As someone who works for a company which provides technology for just such developments, it struck me how simple some of the needs were and how technology should never be the focus of the solution, but can sometimes be assistive in its delivery. Simple needs and simple solutions.

The elderly aren't another species or foreigners or a different generation. We don't wake up one day elderly. We edge up to it whilst looking in the other direction and suddenly are faced with the reality of being there.

@Home

A few times during my working career I've ended up working from home for some time. I find it can be quite a strange existence.

I am now in such a situation, although somewhat different from previous times. Usually I have some pretty agressive timescales and opt to work at home in order to focus on the important stuff I need to do. Right now I'm at home because there is no one else in the office anyway.

I work about 30 minutes car journey from home and I was leading a team, producing a telecare product. At the end of March, money became very tight and my entire team either left or were made redundant. Since then, myself and the sales chap have been going into the office twice a week, since it makes little difference, most of the time, where we are physically sitting. This has worked quite well, and although it's a big change from being in the office each day with lots of people, the variety of home and office has been OK - at least for novelty value, if nothing else.

Now, the sales chap is leaving. So that leaves me and our two directors in the company - directors who seldom show up in the office. So now I wonder how to divide my time between home and office. There are, of course, some things I need to go into the office for, but many things I don't.

There is also the question of motivation. A company which has an ever shrinking workforce, a lack of money and no customers is not the most inspiring place to be. Even when you believe in the product itself - and I do - it's difficult to find the drive to do all the things that need to be done - especially when you're at home and there are the inevitable distractions. I guess it's all about balance and finding the right mix of work and non-work to keep things sustainable. Having spent 2 years battling and working flat-out to get the product completed it's quite a shock to the system.

I guess I'll just have to see how it goes.