Safety at Home (KAT) is a creative development concept which produces safety in homes in a situation where elderly care is moved from institutional care to home conditions. The aim of the KAT projects is to identify and prevent safety risks at home as early as possible during their formation cycle by means of learning that is built on observations, research and experience.
The implementation is built up of various project phases. The KAT operations started in South Karelia with the surveying of needs and with preliminary discussions carried out with the operator network in 2014-2015. In 2016, the KAT1 project was initiated which aimed to develop operations to observe and identify safety risks at home. A Safety at Home card was developed for the purpose of surveying the safety of homes, which was tested in the official work of South Karelia’s rescue department and Eksote.
Progress of the project
The KAT2 and KAT3 project phases are currently underway. During the KAT2 project phase:
- The assessment of elderly people’s safety at home is developed.
- A coordinated operator network model is developed.
- A model is created for the operator network for the purpose of processing risk data.
- The Safety at Home card created during the KAT1 phase (2016) is made electronic.
The aim of the KAT concept is to be a comprehensive and dynamically shaped permanent approach where safety at home is promoted with continuous interaction that is based on trust and in-depth awareness between operators.
The KAT2 project implements the objectives of the Rural Development Programme for Mainland Finland 2014–2020 and the Rural Opportunities - South-East Finland Development Programme.
The KAT project is coordinated by Eksote and South Karelia's Rescue Department. The operator network also includes key national operators, such as the Lappeenranta University of Technology, Saimia and the Association of South Karelia; operators outside the province such as the Ministry of the Interior, the Emergency Services College, and theme-related companies and organisations as well as residents.
Development for rural benefit: During the project, the operator network is built among companies, organisations, Eksote, South Karelia’s Rescue Department and residents (developer group), where workshop coaching is used as the method of creation.