The VoQoL(Voice Activated Quality of Life) project provides a life-changing improvement in the independence and quality-of-life for people with physical disabilities through use of voice-activated technology.
Thanks to the Telkom Foundation, we are the proud recipients of the VoQoL (Voice-activated Quality-of-Life) project, created by Coral Tech in 2017.
In October 2018, the VoQoL project won a large grant in the prestigious SAB Foundation Social Innovations Awards, allowing the project to be expanded to other provinces in South Africa. Coral Tech wanted to get a more formal measure of impact of the VoQoL system for these recipients and, after a year of use, engaged a third-party data analyst to interview Turfhall Cheshire Home residents and staff to get their feedback. The full impact report can be found on the Coral Tech VoQoL website at: https://bit.ly/35VYtmP
The 2020 Corona virus pandemic outbreak and subsequent lockdown in South Africa has made the use of the VoQoL system even more valuable for our residents at Turfhall Cheshire Home as they have been almost entirely cut-off from their families due to health safety concerns. Using VoQoL , it has allowed them to stay in touch with the outside world with each user totally in control of what they want to hear, rather than having to call for assistance.
Features of VoQoL :
- Turning room lights on and off (including dimming)
- Turning on a TV and switching between channels
- Turning on a radio, heater, fan or other wall charged device
- Requesting and playing local radio stations
- Getting general information such as weather and news
- Call for a caregiver by triggering a SMS to an on-duty mobile
The residents who now use the VoQoL system have reported that they are able to use the system between a minimum of 15-20 times per day, and have significantly reduced the amount they are calling upon staff for assistance.
Tulethu a resident at Turfhall Cheshire Home, loves “everything” about the VoQoL technology as “I don’t need to call carers in, because I can do all the things I need to in my room”.
The VoQoL system has now been rolled out to other care homes in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg and can be installed into other care homes and private homes as well.
We are grateful for the gift of VoQoL making a huge difference in the lives of our residents. Thank You Cliff Court, Coral Tech and the Telkom Foundation for your generosity.
Please Contact Helen on 071-6056708 or email marketing.turfhall@gmail.com or marketing@turfhall.org.za to sponsor a resident or find out how you could make a difference in their daily lives.