digitalemma-blog1

[digitalemma-blog1]

Hello readers

So this is not the first time I have written a blog for the purpose of reflecting on my own experiences and learning. I am excited to be trying it out again! One of my main motivations for doing so is to be in a position to help out any of my colleagues who may wish to do something similar and take their continuous professional development to the next level! I love the concept of having an e-portfolio of evidence of how I put learning into practice and actually made something happen. It is easy to set up a blog (when you know how!) and more and more people seem to be using blogs as a platform to reflect, learn and set new goals. Watch this space...

[digitalemma-blog1]

SSSC 23 Things Digital – Thing 22: Improving outcomes

Let’s talk about the technology we are using well now...

All support workers at my organisation are issued with a smartphone which is a great starting point to promote the use of digital technology among employees. Generally, there is good use of the basic features of smartphones among staff, such as emails and texting. However, I think we could better use apps to help everyone stay in touch with each other, especially as we have a lot of lone workers covering wide areas. I think improvements in this area could help staff to feel more connected and, therefore, more fulfilled in their roles. I see a great opportunity for peer support here. We are currently issuing tablets to our care customers and providing training as to how to use these and get online. I think this will have a positive impact for many customers as the Internet opens up so many possibilities – they might be able to shop online, saving money and benefiting from more choice; they might want to communicate with friends and family online, reducing isolation and loneliness; or they might access online videos, providing them with more entertainment and reducing boredom. I think the opportunity to try something new and learn new skills could also help service users from a mental health perspective. There are many barriers and challenges which we will face, such as service users being initially unaware of what technology can offer them as well as being reluctant or afraid to even have a go. I believe that many will underestimate their own abilities. There is also an online safety risk which can be difficult to communicate to those who have never used the internet before. I think the service should be aware of the possible objections and training time required in order to make this a success.

And what might the future look like?

I believe that augmented reality could have a huge impact on our service users, although not necessarily through them using it directly. Through my online research I have found cases of virtual reality apps and headsets beings used for training purposes. In an article published on theweek.co.uk (https://www.theweek.co.uk/96877/virtual-reality-boost-for-alzheimer-s-care), the writer reports on using virtual reality to help care givers to experience their environment as a person suffering from dementia would. I think this would help care givers to build empathy with sufferers of dementia and better understand the day to day difficulties they may face. I imagine that the main setback for integrating this kind of technology into training would be the cost. However, there are cheaper methods of using augmented reality other than a VR headset. For example, cardboard holders can be used to hold a smartphone and then worn by the user. The smartphone can run a VR app. I think some staff might be apprehensive to use technology in this way; however, I think we can overcome this barrier by enabling staff to try it out in a safe environment with support on hand. I think we will see more and more virtual reality technology being used as a training tool going forwards as it is very difficult otherwise to simulate situations that staff may face before they are released into the service. Using VR technology could mean that staff are better prepared and more confident to deal with situations which would positively impact service users.

There is so much more out there which could change the way we work for the better. What technology have you come across?