Supporting Independent Living: The Role of Technology in Health and Social Care

This module explores the impact of technology on health and social care services, focusing on its role in supporting independent living for elderly individuals. It examines the benefits and challenges of using technology to address various health conditions and disabilities, including learning disabilities, limited mobility, and chronic diseases. The module also discusses ethical considerations and the impact of technological advancements on healthcare organizations and care workers. Finally, it provides recommendations for how technologies can be used to support independent living arrangements, highlighting the potential of mobile applications, wearable devices, IoT, and robotics in enhancing the lives of elderly individuals.

SUPPORTING INDEPENDENT LIVING

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................2
LO 1..................................................................................................................................................3
1.1 EXPLAINING THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN SUPPORTING THE USERS OF THE HEALTH AND
SOCIAL CARE SERVICES IN LIVING INDEPENDENTLY....................................................................3
1.2 DIFFERENT BARRIERS ANALYSIS THAT HELPS IN THE SUPPORT OF THE INDIVIDUALS OF
HEALTH CARE SERVICES...............................................................................................................5
1.3 EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENT BENEFITS OF THE TECHNOLOGIES OF HEALTH CARE..............6
LO 2..................................................................................................................................................7
2.1 EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENT HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS IN THE USAGE OF
THE TECHNOLOGIES OF HEALTH CARE........................................................................................7
2.2 DISCUSSING THE ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE USAGE OF THE HEALTH CARE
TECHNOLOGIES............................................................................................................................9
2.3 DISCUSSING THE DIFFERENT IMPACTS OF THE RECENT AND THE EMERGING
TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ORGANIZATIONS AND CARE WORKERS OF THE
HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SERVICES........................................................................................10
LO 3................................................................................................................................................12
3.1 SPECIFIC NEEDS IN ORDER TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT LIVING.........................................12
3.2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HOW TECHNOLOGIES MIGHT SUPPORT THE INDEPENDENT
LIVING ARRANGEMENTS............................................................................................................15
3.1 USEFULNESS OF TECHNOLOGY FOR USERS OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SERVICES.......18
CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................21
1

2

INTRODUCTION
Health and social care is a vast sector that offers services to several citizens in the UK, as 18% of
total population in the UK is above 65; there is a significant amount of users that require health
and social services (Office for National Statistics, 2016). The following module will provide an
understanding of the impact of technology on health and social care services and independent
living of elders. Initially, the technological impact is explained and analysed along with its
benefits. Later, implications of developments in technologies are discussed in detail. Lastly,
technologies that can support the independent living of elders is been identified and evaluated.
3

LO 1
1.1 EXPLAINING THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN SUPPORTING THE USERS OF
THE HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SERVICES IN LIVING INDEPENDENTLY
There are various kinds of the technological advancements made in the field of the health care
that has aided the different individuals in to face and overcome the different kinds of
disabilities. According to the government of UK, the different individuals that are differing from
the disabilities must be treated equally as others and they should have control over their
choices and must have the freedom to live independently in the communities (Greenhalgh, et
al. 2015). Sally is an individual in this case study who is suffering from the various diseases like
the double vision, numbness and have a problem in her right parts of the body. As she is
suffering from these diseases in her day to day work, regular activities are getting affected. The
advancements made in the technology do not mean that the disabled individuals will need to
do everything on their own but it allows them to live their life at their own choice without
seeking any assistance (Memon, et al. 2014).
The assistive technology is one of the advancements that can be utilised by the Sally as she is
suffering from the double vision problem. The device named eye patch can also be used in
order to minimize the effect of the double vision and deal with it (Gibson, et al. 2016). It is
essential that technological treatments given to the patients must be from their consent and
choices. Sally was facing issues in her mobility so she has been referred to an occupational
therapist and was given an ankle-foot orthosis to improve her problem of the right foot.
Special assistive technology a special keyboard was given to her as she was facing issues in
typing and the large letters with the yellow background can help her to recognize the letters
(Bethoux, et al. 2014).
4

As Sally was also facing the problem of numbness in her right foot and hand she was not able to
drive her car and was reducing her independence for which on the steering wheel of her a
sponge knob has been used and in order to teach her some new methods of driving a left foot
accelerator has been built on her car (Orellano-Colón et al. 2018). Sally use to forget her things
of her day to day life as her memory is getting weak for which she was provided with a Personal
Digital Assistant device(PDA) also known as the Pocket Coach that will her to recognize her
work in a just in a click of button and to remember what else to do next. In order to support the
individual living of Sally, these technological advancements have helped a lot.
5

1.2 DIFFERENT BARRIERS ANALYSIS THAT HELPS IN THE SUPPORT OF THE
INDIVIDUALS OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES
There are different barriers present that acts as a wall in the utilisation of the technology by the
health and social care service users those are dealing with disabilities. Some of the issues faced
during the usage of the technology by the healthcare individuals includes the difficulties to
access the new technologies without proper knowledge, high costs of the treatments,
difficulties in the maintenance of the technological equipment, training issues along with the
issues of the mechanical breakdown that might occur during the usage of the support services
of healthcare (Andersen, et al. 2015).
As the advanced technology like costly processors are being used in making the highly reliable
equipment's, the gadgets and the instruments of the healthcare treatments are quite costly.
One of the technological devices named PDA was offered to the Sally to improve her problem of
memory loss and vision impairment, which is a very costly gadget and the cost required to
maintain it is also very high which is one of the other barriers to the support of the individuals
(Weir et al. 2018). The PDA batteries need to be replaced and internet connection needs to be
recharged from time to time.
As Sally was provided with technological gadgets, car with the right foot accelerator and sponge
knob so if proper training is not given to her it can even be led to the loss of her life. So,
improper training regarding the equipment like PDA, in this case, to make her remember her
task can affect her life (Odendaal, et al. 2015). Proper training regarding the usage of the
special keyboard is required to avoid the barriers. Sometimes assistance of others or experts is
also required by Sally in case of the mechanical breakdowns in the PDA or left foot accelerator
which is one of the other barriers in her independent living by the usage of technology.
6

1.3 EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENT BENEFITS OF THE TECHNOLOGIES OF
HEALTH CARE
Various difficulties of the individuals in the support of the independent living have been
reduced by the usage of the supporting technology in the healthcare. These technological
advancements have helped the people to face different disabilities and made their lives easy
and independent. The sponge knob on the steering wheel of Sally's car and left foot accelerator
has helped her in driving the car easily and resolved her problem of mobility. This resolved
issues of Sally and has helped her in living her life independently (Stoddart and Evans, 2017).
The personal digital assistant that has been provided to her has helped to recall and remember
the various day to day tasks that she needs to perform like taking the medicines also that she
might forget due to the memory loss. This has helped her to face her disease of numbness. In
order to avoid the things that she should not do which can create issues for her are reminded
to her by the PDA. Sally’s independence level has been increased due to the advanced
technology that has reduced various risks (Folland, et al. 2016).
The eye vision of the Sally has also been improvised by the utilisation of the eye patch and her
typing problems have also been solved by the use of the special keyboard. The PDA has one of
the great advantages of storing the data and easy access to the different services of health care
(Ventola, 2014). The various technological devices that have been used in the case of the Sally
has helped her a lot in dealing with the different situations that she faces and have improved
her independent living.
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LO 2
2.1 EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENT HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS IN
THE USAGE OF THE TECHNOLOGIES OF HEALTH CARE
There are some of the health and safety concerns that need to be taken care before providing
any kind of technological equipment to the people dealing with several disabilities. During the
year 1974, several provisions regarding the safety of the different individuals under the health
care regulations were developed on how to use the different personal support equipment on
the people (Forbes and Watt, 2015). The considerations regarding the maintenance and repair
of the technological equipment and gadgets must also be taken care.
The various health and safety gadgets are provided to Sally so she must understand the
different safety consideration regarding them. Before providing her sponge knob and left foot
accelerator in her care she was instructed regarding their complete usage. If improper training
would have given to her, in this case, this might have resulted in some serious accident in her
life would have been put in danger (Peek, et al. 2014). So, proper implication might have
resulted in such case if any breakdown occurs.
In order to make Sally remember taking medicines non-time and perform some other works
regularly she was given PDA to store and memorize important things and if any technical issues
occur in it at any moment then this will result in her poor health and some severe
consequences. In order to deal with her issues of numbness, right side weakness, vision
impairment and other issues she must be prescribed proper treatments and medicines (Kayser,
et al. 2014).
8

Sally has to continue her job to support her independent living but if any mechanical
breakdown or technical issues get raised in the keyboard that was provided to her to deal with
per vision issue then there might be chances that can lose her job. Thus, it is essential to
prevent and maintain the different technological equipment so that the heavy investment
made by Sally in her treatment and support of the independent living would not be wasted.
9

2.2 DISCUSSING THE ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE USAGE OF THE
HEALTH CARE TECHNOLOGIES
Ethics of individuals can be defined as the concepts and the fundamental principles that they
follow to decently deal with other people or in the decent code of conduct. In the field of the
health care services, there are some ethical considerations that the individuals providing these
services must follow before providing any technical assistance to Sally for improving her health.
The different ethical issues in relation to the treatment of the Sally must maintain throughout
to support her in independent living. The treatments, technological equipment, tests were
done, gadgets are other important information of Sally must be kept confidential to ensure her
privacy (Holloway and Galvin, 2016). The PDA that has been provided to her consist of her
various personal information like the medicine and the treatment details and in case of any
technical issue in the device all her personal information can be assessed by anyone which will
be against the ethical considerations and thus according to the data and safety protection act
the rules will be violated. In order to keep this information safe, the access to the PDA must be
limited to some people like the family and health care providers (Neumann, et al. 2016).
It is also essential that Sally's consent must be taken and proper ethics should be followed
before offering any kind of technical treatment to her. It has been noticed that sometimes the
treatments are enforced on the individuals who result in their frustrations and doing such thing
without the patient's consent is against the morals (Cherry and Jacob, 2016). Thus, in order to
support different individuals, those are availing the services of the healthcare, ethics and
morals should be considered.
10

2.3 DISCUSSING THE DIFFERENT IMPACTS OF THE RECENT AND THE
EMERGING TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ORGANIZATIONS AND
CARE WORKERS OF THE HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SERVICES
It has been observed that the implementation of the technological advancements like assistive
technology has affected the health of the various individuals. The daily routine and working
activities of the employees get affected by the latest developments in the healthcare
technology. The processes like medical diagnostics of the patients have been improved. The
diagnosis of the severe problems like hearing disabilities, vision impairments, cancers etc. can
be easily done with the technological developments (Ginter, et al. 2018).
The new technological equipment help in curing several diseases by the proper diagnosis at an
early stage so the effect of the diseases can be minimized that was previously almost
impossible. The well-advanced equipment like the special keyboards, sponge knob and PDA
have helped in the case of Sally to properly diagnose and cure diseases like numbness, vision
impairments, memory loss etc (Cockerham, 2015). The employees that are working in the
healthcare sector are now effectively able to do their tasks in a less by the well versed
technological equipment and easy identification of the patient's problems.
The organizational processes are now carried out effectively as various training to the
employees are given to make them well versed with their usages. The operative processes and
the remote diagnostic have increased the level of the services provided in the organizations by
the care workers. Healthy relationships are now developed between the patients and the
service providers (Nelson and Staggers, 2016).
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Some negative impacts might also have been resulted due to the technological developments
like information of the treatment procedures; patient’s confidential information get lost. The
improved technology has led to the cost benefits to the healthcare organizations as they need
to spend less now on the training of the workforce (Barrett, et al. 2015). One of the powerful
impacts of the technological development is the reduced time in the training of employees as
high experience is gained by them in practical assistance. Thus, though there are some negative
impacts considering the p=overall scenario the impacts are overall positive.
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LO 3
3.1 SPECIFIC NEEDS IN ORDER TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT LIVING
As mentioned in the above section, independent living can be considered as a philosophy to live
freely without depending on someone. In the UK, a majority of elderly citizens prefer to live on
their own; though this requires to consider several factors such as their health, functional
capabilities, living circumstances and much more. Some possess significant good health and
functional capabilities while others fail to maintain their health on their own, thus require
external assistance via third-party organizations (Ahlqvist, et al., 2016).
In the given scenario, Jane comes under the second category where she faces several medical
conditions, which act as a barrier for her to live independently. Issues that come with such
medical conditions are described below:
LEARNING DISABILITY
It can be defined as learning or processing the environment effectively, with age impact of such
issue increases. As per NIHCD (2016), it is difficult for elders to read, write, or remember
information; additionally, this also affects their ability to organise and pay attention.
LIMITED MOBILITY
Due to chronic diseases, Jane faces certain mobility limitations that make it difficult to perform
daily routine tasks. This is generally due to lower bone density, which often results in falls,
which eventually results in serious injuries (Health in Aging, 2017). In 2012 after a suspected
heart attack, limited mobility made it difficult for her to reach the emergency cord.
CHRONIC DISEASES
According to a report by Kennedy, et al., (2014) such diseases cannot be cured with medicines
or vaccines, which makes it most dangerous for elders. Jane faces diabetes type 2 and epilepsy
13

that not only puts several limitations on her food habits but also causes seizures. This also
increases her chances to fall suddenly and get an injury (NHS, 2017).
All these factors make it difficult for Jane to live completely independent, as she requires a
certain amount of supervision and assistance. However, Jane's wish to live independent can be
sorted by taking help from the third party that can provide necessary assistance. Living
independent provide a feeling of motivation to perform activities as per their wish, rather than
depending on the schedule made by old age care authorities (Noble, 2018).
For living independently with the assistance of the third party, certain requirements, and needs
of Jane has to be considered to maintain a balance between her privacy and assistance. Since
the diseases and disability raise the chances of getting injured, necessary precautions have to
be made in the apartment based on her needs; these needs and requirements are listed below:
 Proper regulated and healthy diet is the primary requirement of Jane, due to several
diseases, there are a certain amount of limitations on her for consumption. Since due to
learning disability and limited mobility it will be difficult for her to purchase ingredients
on daily basis, therefore the home delivery system will be required, that provide all the
necessary requirement of Jane on a daily basis (Shafer, 2017)
 Healthy routine with the proper amount of exercise is essential for Jane to maintain the
functioning of her body. Additionally, periodic visits to doctors and taking correct
medicines on time is also necessary, therefore a simplified system is needed that
ensures periodic visit of doctor and taking right medicines (Dong, and Simon, 2015)
 Emotional needs are as essential for elders as any other needs, communication with
others play a vital role in maintaining the healthy living environment. as per studies,
loneliness significantly increases the chances of untimely death, therefore proper
communication with people of similar age and loves ones are also essential for healthy
independent living (Crotty, et al., 2015)
 In the case of an emergency, it essential to contact care service provider immediately,
therefore a system that informs doctors and the respected person is also needed.
14

Additionally, after the incident of 2012, the panic button or system must be accessible at
all time
 Lastly, the residence is the only place where Jane will spend most of the time; therefore,
it is essential to take necessary precautions, so that unwanted injuries can be avoided.
Key areas like kitchen, bedroom etc. must be properly considered while preparing the
home. Facilities that can ease up the daily task at home are needed for independent
living.
Aforementioned are some basic needs and requirements that require serious consideration, in
order to ensure the safety of Jane.
15

3.2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HOW TECHNOLOGIES MIGHT SUPPORT THE
INDEPENDENT LIVING ARRANGEMENTS
As described above, living independently with any sort of disease requires special assistance in
order to ensure the safety of the person. Since Jane is facing several severe diseases and
disability that causes difficulty to perform the daily routine. Moreover, these diseases will get
worse in the future, therefore it is essential to take necessary precautions to make her
independent living safe and easy (Bedaf, et al.,2015).
Initially, since independent living will involve third-party assistance and all the necessary needs
will be covered by them; based on the diseases and needs, safety precautions can be taken.
With the increase in technological advancement, it has become easier than ever to provide
healthy and safe independent living environment for elders. In context with needs of Jane,
technologies that can be found useful are considered below
All the necessary items must be available at the doorstep, including food, medicines etc. for an
elder adult like Jane. The help of mobile applications can ease this up. There are several doors
to door grocery provider such as Amazon Fresh. Moreover, their easy to use application
interface is useful for people suffering from learning disability (Sanchez, 2014). Certain mobile
applications like Uber, Ola etc. provide door-to-door transportation service, which has eased
transportation for elders.
Cell phones and Tablets have significantly increased the scope to ease up the living of elders.
Wearable gadgets like fit bit etc. and Health condition can be monitored at all time. In addition
to this, such gadgets provide freedom to share the health details that include, calories
consumed, sleep take, heartbeat etc. to the desired person (Tsao, 2015); therefore, with the
help of such technology, doctors can monitor the health of Jane at all time. Screen
magnification and audio to text, text to audio converter feature in Tablets and cell phones is
another technological feature that is found useful for elders with lower vision (Laabidi, et al.,
2014).
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Machine learning technology has made it easier to design medicine reminder application that
not only reminds elders to take medicine and keep track, but also provide prescription and alert
medical operators and doctors when medicine is about to end. Based on this, another need to
can be completed i.e. setting an appointment with doctors (Sauer, 2014).
Fulfilling emotional needs of elders is another major concern, especially when they are facing
several issues. Loneliness can be lead to depression that can severely affect the health of
elders. With social media platforms, elders with mobility limitations can connect with the
communities in better form. Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp etc. are some platforms that allow
simple interface through which they can contact their loved ones. Technological advancement
has also provided affordable high-speed internet through which video calling can be done.
These technologies are providing a virtual platform to elders to discover new people and be in
contact with their friends and families (Shillair, et al., 2015).
Internet of Things (IoT) is another technology based on the internet that has recently gained
focus of the caretakers since third-party organization will oversee the assistance of Jane, the
cost for assistance is heavily reduced while the efficiency of the system has significantly
increased due to IOT. As per a report by Krishnamurthy, et al., (2016), connecting the wearable
technology with the interface of doctor's monitoring system, it has become easier to monitor
the condition of a patient. Additionally, this also triggers emergency protocol if Jane ever faces
seizures or heart attack. IoT also eases up the daily routine for elders, the habit of forgetting to
turn off light, gas etc. are some basic but essential factors, that are been taken care of through
IoT. Based on the position of users in the unnecessary appliances can be turned off
automatically (Mostaghel, 2016).
In context with home safety, with the help of CCTV camera, families can monitor the premises,
live streaming allows the third party service provider and families to supervise the premises via
their tablets or mobile. GPS is another technology through which the movement of Jane can be
monitored, since she faces learning disability and epilepsy, at the time of emergency her
location can be detected through GPS (Pinantoan, 2012).
17

Robotics is another technological field that plays a vital role is safe proofing the home, stair
rails, automatic door lock; advanced wheelchairs are some of the applications that are possible
due to robotics. These applications of robotics will provide safety to Jane or other elders to an
extent (CORDIS, 2017).
Aforementioned technologies have not only made the life of elders easier but also reduced the
average cost of assistance. Innovation is done in the different fields to improve all these
technologies.
18

3.1 USEFULNESS OF TECHNOLOGY FOR USERS OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
SERVICES
Technological advancement has greatly affected the process and services for the healthcare of
elders and service providers. Due to this, not only the safety has increased, but also made the
entire process economical and efficient. IoT can be considered as the game changer for social
care, as it has allowed linking the devices together and forming an entire system that works on
its own (Krishnamurthy, et al., (2016).
Users can be considered as the consumer that has been vastly benefited with the technological
advancement. Technology appliances like tablets and cell phones have provided opportunities
for developers to provide useful applications like grocery delivery services, transportation
services, social interaction services and many more. These services have not only eased up the
daily task of elders by delivering all the required material at their doorstep with just a click of a
button but also reduced the chances of depression, which is considered as one of the major
cause that causes premature death (Pinantoan, 2012). Technological advancement has
improved the internet services that have cultivated the social media platform that allows elders
to communicate with their loved ones at an economic rate.
Basic needs of users like safety within and outside the apartment have been improved with the
technological advancement. With the increased advancement in electronics and
communication filed, it has been possible to provide various services through a lightweight
wearable belt. Such wearable appliances linked with other appliances at home form a secure
environment that tracks the health status of users and remind them necessary information like
taking pills (Hoerth, 2015).
On the other hand, care service providers have also been benefited through technology. IoT
and robotics have provided them with the opportunity to serve many patients with limited
human resources. As they can monitor the health condition of users from a fixed point by
connecting the wearable to their system through IoT, this has allowed them to improve their
19

efficiency and performance (iCare Health, 2018). Moreover, this has also resulted in lower
maintained cost, resulting in a significant profit to the service providers.
Improved technology has also enhanced the communication between staffs and users, which
has eventually reduced the gap between the users and staffs. Staffs feel more motivated
towards their work with the availability of necessary technology. Technology enhances the skills
of staffs that act as a motivational catalyst and boost company morale.
20

CONCLUSION
From the aforementioned module, the role of technology in health and social care has been
understood from various perspective. Based on this several evaluations can be made; initially,
from analysing the use of technology to support independent living, it can be understood that,
though it provides ease to user and service provider, there exist several barriers that are
required to be removed, which can be done by continues innovation and research. Further, it
can also be understood that several safety precautions have to be taken while using
technologies. Lastly, by identifying various technologies that help both the parties i.e. users and
service providers, it can be concluded that there are many technologies that can be used on the
basis of a medical condition as well as the need of users.
21

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