Featured Post from Aston University

First AI-powered Smart Care Home system to improve quality of residential care

Jul 24, 2025

3 min

  • Partnership between Lee Mount Healthcare and Aston University will develop and integrate a bespoke AI system into a care home setting to elevate the quality of care for residents
  • By automating administrative tasks and monitoring health metrics in real time, the smart system will support decision making and empower care workers to focus more on people
  • The project will position Lee Mount Healthcare as a pioneer of AI in the care sector and opening the door for more care homes to embrace technology.


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Aston University is partnering with dementia care provider Lee Mount Healthcare to create the first ‘Smart Care Home’ system incorporating artificial intelligence.


The project will use machine learning to develop an intelligent system that can automate routine tasks and compliance reporting. It will also draw on multiple sources of resident data – including health metrics, care needs and personal preferences – to inform high-quality care decisions, create individualised care plans and provide easy access to updates for residents’ next of kin.


There are nearly 17,000 care homes in the UK looking after just under half a million residents, and these numbers are expected to rise in the next two decades. Over half of social care providers still retain manual and paper-based approaches to care management, offering significant opportunity to harness the benefits of AI to enhance efficiency and care quality.


The Smart Care Home system will allow for better care to be provided at lower cost, freeing up staff from administrative tasks so they can spend more time with residents.


Manjinder Boo Dhiman, director of Lee Mount Healthcare, said: “As a company, we’ve always focused on innovation and breaking barriers, and this KTP builds on many years of progress towards digitisation. We hope by taking the next step into AI, we’ll also help to improve the image of the care sector and overcome stereotypes, to show that we are forward thinking and can attract the best talent.”


Dr Roberto Alamino, lecturer in Applied AI & Robotics with the School of Computer Science and Digital Technologies at Aston University said: “The challenges of this KTP are both technical and human in nature. For practical applications of machine learning, it’s important to establish a common language between us as researchers and the users of the technology we are developing. We need to fully understand the problems they face so we can find feasible, practical solutions.


For specialist AI expertise to develop the smart system, LMH is partnering with the Aston Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Application (ACAIRA) at Aston University, of which Dr Alamino is a member. ACAIRA is recognised internationally for high-quality research and teaching in computer science and artificial intelligence (AI) and is part of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. The Centre’s aim is to develop AI-based solutions to address critical social, health, and environmental challenges, delivering transformational change with industry partners at regional, national and international levels.


The project is a Knowledge Transfer Partnership. (KTP). Funded by Innovate UK, KTPs are collaborations between a business, a university and a highly qualified research associate. The UK-wide programme helps businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills. Aston University is a sector leading KTP provider, ranked first for project quality, and joint first for the volume of active projects.


For more information on the KTP visit the webpage.

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