Public Funding for Collective Enterprises Limited

As our population ages, there is more demand for housing adaptation for older people, and with disabled adults and children, there is a backlog of grant beneficiaries on local authority waiting lists. The delay is due to waiting time for Occupational Therapists(OT) assessment(RCOT,2023) which can be 573 days(Zhou,2019) or more than 18 months (Investigative-Journalism,2023) when the assessment and approval statutorily should not take more than 6 months(Construction Act,1996). Also, the prevalence of disability rises with age, and as society is ageing, more people require housing that meets their needs. 16 million people(24%) in the UK had a disability in 2021/22\. There is the recognition that the sooner the housing adaptations are done, the greater the preventative benefits, e.g. reducing the risk of falls and associated costs. Hip fractures have negative effects on daily living activities, account for around £2billion of fragility-fractures costs, and increased one-year mortality between 18% and 33% in UK(OHID,2021). The regulations/statutory guidance stipulate that social workers/occupational therapists should be involved in the assessment(Care Act,2014). Therefore, there is an urgent need to enhance the process of assessment to improve applicants' quality of life and reduce pressure on the NHS and care homes. The current system of assessment is outdated(manually done), inefficient and disorganised, leading to delays and sometimes death before assessment. To address this anomaly and enhance the quality of life for our aged and disabled population, this project aims to develop an automated person-centred self-assessment online system through a more integrated and collaborative approach to the assessment, design, and installation of adaptations. The proposed study adopts techniques in advanced software development, Artificial-Intelligence(AI), Machine-Learning(ML), Decision-Support-System(DSS) and cloud-computing to create an innovative tool(OTWISE-AI). It consists of four-elements: (a) AI-enabled DFG Triage assessment of needs (b) Personalised adaptations platform (c) AI-powered Grant Advisor platform (d) Interactive VR-platform for bespoke adaptation