{"id":14943,"date":"2016-06-08T15:27:24","date_gmt":"2016-06-08T14:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/digileaders.com\/?p=14943"},"modified":"2019-05-08T14:45:50","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T13:45:50","slug":"looking-wrong-end-telescope-improving-experience-older-people-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/looking-wrong-end-telescope-improving-experience-older-people-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking through the wrong end of the telescope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Improving the experience of older people through technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

In March, Skills for Care asked me to talk at their Digital Leadership conferences about our experience of leading the introduction of technology to our 12 care homes in Warwickshire. They wanted me to talk about the business case for investment in digital technology and reflect on efficiency as well as benefits. Apparently, that was going to inspire people attending to invest.\u00a0 Oh really!<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t talk about that very much, because it isn\u2019t what drives us to introduce technology: this just isn\u2019t about efficiency.\u00a0 I think that the reason assistive technology has been so hard to cascade across the care sector is that policy makers try to push it to reduce spend and manage stretched financial and people resources.\u00a0 Ultimately we are talking about a people industry and it\u2019s people who need to adopt this stuff.<\/p>\n

Does my Dad with Alzheimers care that his \u201cclock\u201d (actually a tablet device called a homehelper \u00a0www.myhomehelper.co.uk<\/a>) is more cost-effective than a home care worker visiting to remind him to take his medication? Is he going to use it for that reason?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 He uses it because he doesn\u2019t know what day or time it is and what he\u2019s supposed to be doing, and this is constantly in his eye line reminding him.\u00a0 It\u2019s meaningful to him.<\/p>\n

Just to be clear, it\u2019s not that technology doesn\u2019t deliver efficiencies; or that there isn\u2019t a business case for investment.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that we\u2019re looking at this through the wrong end of the telescope. In our care homes WCS Care has introduced technology such as electronic care planning using handheld devices; acoustic listening technology; tablet communication devices; for one reason only: because it improves the experience of the people living with us.\u00a0 Not because it\u2019s saving money; not because we are excited about the piece of kit.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually about a culture that focuses on ensuring people have fun and pleasure every day; technology is just an enabler of that: what we do HAS<\/strong> to improve the experience of someone living in one of our homes:<\/p>\n