Healthcare: Using Technology to Support Independent Living Report

This report examines the use of technology to support independent living in health and social care, focusing on assistive devices and their impact on patients' lives. It explores how technology can enhance independence, discussing the benefits for both users and healthcare organizations. The report analyzes barriers to technology adoption, including technical, financial, and knowledge-related challenges. It also considers health and safety aspects, ethical considerations, and the impact of emerging technologies. The report includes case studies of individuals with specific needs, offering recommendations on how technology can facilitate independent living arrangements. Finally, it evaluates the overall usefulness of technology in supporting individuals in healthcare settings, highlighting its potential to improve quality of life and promote autonomy. The report is contributed by a student to be published on the website Desklib, a platform which provides all the necessary AI based study tools for students.

SUPPORTING
INDEPENDENT
LIVING
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
1.1: Explain how technology can be used to support users of health and social care services in
living independently...............................................................................................................3
1.2: Analyze barriers to the use of technology to support users of health and social care
services in living independently.............................................................................................4
1.3: Explain the benefits of these technologies to health and social care organisations and their
users........................................................................................................................................5
2.1: Explain health and safety considerations in the use of technologies in health and social
care.........................................................................................................................................6
2.2: Discuss ethical considerations in the use of assistive technologies................................6
2.3 Explain the impact of recent and emerging technological developments on health and
social care services, organisations and care workers..............................................................7
Part 2................................................................................................................................................8
3.1: Identify Jane’s specific needs in order to support Jane to live independently................8
3.2: Make your own recommendations on how the Technology might support her independent
living arrangements................................................................................................................9
3.3 Evaluate the usefulness of technology for Jane and also for other users of health and social
care services............................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
Technology is very useful in the health and social care sector. With appropriate and
updated technical devices, health and social care sector can treat and diagnose the patients
properly and effectively. Proper treatment and care can be given to the patients for ensuring their
satisfaction. Assistive devices are changing the lifestyle of people both in positive and negative
ways. These technical devices are supporting the health and social care services in living
independently. This report is based on two case studies of Sally and Jean who are suffering from
vision and heart problems respectively. This report will discuss the use of technology for
supporting the users of health and social care services to live independently along with the
barriers and benefits. Also this report will discuss the health, safety, ethical considerations along
with the impact of recent and emerging assistive devices developments for using them in health
and social care. In the end, specific needs, recommendations and the usefulness of these devices
for supporting the independent living arrangements of users in health and social care services
will be discussed.
PART 1
1.1: Explain how technology can be used to support users of health and social care services in
living independently
Technology and medicinal advancements are benefiting the people with disabilities and
health issues. Digital technology is enabling people and society for providing appropriate and
suitable treatment to the patients for making their life easier and independent. In addition to this,
changes are also required in medical practices for further developments in treatment and
technology. This change is necessary for providing maximum benefits to the people with
disabilities. There are various devices and software which are available for people with
disabilities (Beresford, 2011). Through these devices and software, their problems can be
reduced and also patients can communicate with society better and do their daily work without
depending upon others. In the case of Sally, she was suffering from double vision and tingling
and numbness in her left foot. She consulted with a neurologist and then placed on disease-
modulating medication. Also proper education related to the lifestyle changes will be provided to
her for reducing the fatigue. The neurologist also suggested her to consult with technology
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specialist for providing the information and education about the assistive devices which are
available for her. With the use of these assistive devices, her problems can be reduced to a lower
extent through which she can drive to and from work and also to help her children in doing their
after school activities such as games and homework (Campbell and Oliver, 2013).
She was referred to Occupation Therapist for the diagnosis of her ankle-foot orthosis and
also refereed to Assistive Technology Specialist for considering the other available alternatives
for facing her various issues related to typing, holding lunch tray, and for performing other day
to day life activities (Cogan, 2014). Her general practitioner told her to consult with driver's
trainer specialist in order to modify her vehicle with a special type of spinner knob and
accelerator with left foot and also to provide her training for new way of driving with these
modifications. Also the GP told her to consult with a social worker for taking counselling and
support related to work, finances and decisions taken for her personal life. She was provided
with a handheld devices known as personal digital assistant (PDA) after a cognitive evaluation
based on her memory skills for aiding her in memory skills. From this device, she needs to push
a single button for remembering what to do next and also this device is helpful for her to do her
daily activities. From this device, she can manage her work related to healthcare, medications
and nutritional supplements.
1.2: Analyze barriers to the use of technology to support users of health and social care services
in living independently
There are different types of barriers which can affect the patients in taking appropriate
treatment such as budget, deficiency of internal resources, resistance to technology, knowledge
barriers etc. Assistive technology is a good tool for reducing the dependency of disabled person
to take the medicines, care and also for performing their daily work (Dadlani and et. al., 2011).
Technology use helps such patients and it is also available throughout the day. In the case of
Sally, she can continue to do her daily work with the use of assistive technology. Her vision
problem is solved by using enlarged keyboard with extra dark character on it for ensuring that
she will work with her full efficiency. Through these assistive devices, People like Sally can
continue to do their job and also can help their children in after school activities. These devices
have benefits as well as some limitations also along with several technical as well as social
barriers. Some of the barriers will be discussed further.
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Possibility of failure is also common in some devices. Some of the assistive devices are
simple in operating such as a walker whereas While some assistive devices come with complex
design and functionality (Gaetz and Scott, 2012). With the complexity in design, these devices
are difficult to operate and the chances of failure of machines also increased. Because of such
failures, using these devices in the treatment and care is not possible due to chances of life and
death issues.
Battery operated electronic devices are designed for helping the disabled patients in
which they are operated by an additional power source (Gangavati and et. al., 2011). The
problem in such devices is that they need recharging after some time and during the charging,
these devices are not safe to use. Improper knowledge is also a barrier for using such devices as
they lacks the information for using these assistive devices and due to which they did not get the
desired results.
1.3: Explain the benefits of these technologies to health and social care organisations and their
users
For using assistive technology, it is mandatory that these devices are designed for taking
care of needs of the disabled patient. Health care organizations and patients both are getting the
benefits of these assistive devices (Jackson, 2011). There are various benefits of using these
assistive devices in social and health care organization.
Affordability and availability of devices is very necessary so that the patients can access
these devices for their care. Health care organizations could not provide these devices without
necessary funds and employees. However, if these devices are affordable and available at cheap
prices then the healthcare organisations can provide these to the patients in needy time. Even the
government is also helping health care organisations and companies to develop such products by
offering less or no tax as well as by offering subsidy.
These devices also helpful in the recovery process. Many times the disability is
temporary and can be recovered quickly with continuous care and with the help of assistive
devices for speeding up the process of recovery process (Johnstone, 2012). With the help of
these devices people can live a normal life. Disability can create a gap between normal and
dependent life. After such disability, people find it hard to work in the same way as before. But
with the help of such devices, they can do their regular work without depending upon other.
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Sally can use and get the benefits is these devices by using them in doing her activities.
With such devices she can type, hold her lunch tray etc. Even the PDA is helping her in her
memory skills for taking the decision regarding what to do next.
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2.1: Explain health and safety considerations in the use of technologies in health and social care
Assistive technologies come with many health benefits for patients and health
organisations. Assistive technology is new in the market and there are several complicated cases
and results of using these devices which are established using the feasibility tests. Feasibility
tests conducted till now are not effective and also the studies conducted is for short term use.
There are various health and safety aspects which needs to address for using these devices.
There are also long term effects on the health of patients after using these devices. In
case of injury, it is very essential to keep an eye on the long term effects on the health of patients
for using these devices (Lotfi and et. al., 2012). These devices can often interrupt the recovery
process. In case of physical injury or accident, these devices are of more help in the recovery
process. So, it is necessary to introduce the assistive devices in a proper manner for making them
more efficient and effective for being used in recovery process instead of interrupting it. These
devices can sometimes cause the lack of will to recover for patients who are in trauma or injury.
Safety Check for these devices must be of high standards. Low quality devices can increase the
side effects or can even harm the patients. Without proper security check, these devices can
increase the effects of disability further.
In case of Sally, she was prescribed with different devices for improving her condition of
double vision and ankle-foot orthosis. But when she decided to use these devices, her condition
didn't improve instead of other problems related to typing, driving and memory loss started to
arise which can be because of not considering the safety regulations and also due to the improper
use of devices.
2.2: Discuss ethical considerations in the use of assistive technologies
Ethics refers to the set of rules and regulations which states whether the thoughts are
morally good or not. Several ethical policies must be followed by the health care organisations
for introducing or implementing a technology. New technology is helpful for effectively and
efficiently executing the tasks in order to increase the profit and productivity. Some of the ethical
principles are discussed below for using the assistive devices technology ethically.
Autonomy states that patients has the right to choose their treatment and diagnosis
procedure according to their convenience.
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Beneficence states that the health organisation or medical practitioner must provide the
benefits and information of the treatment procedure to the patients whom the treatment is
provided (Mossialos and et. al., 2016).
Non-maleficence states that medical practitioner must needs to analyse the risk associated
with the treatment and also to ensure that the privacy and safety must be not disclosed to
someone other.
Justice states that the health organisation and doctors should treat every patients without
any biasness and discrimination.
In the case study of Sally, she was provided with PDA device due to which her
dependency on electronic devices increased and her problem of memory loss further increased
due to this dependency. Also, the medical practitioner needs to ensure that her privacy and
information must not be disclosed to other people while using the device. Assistive technology is
not good in enhancing the morale of the patients as due to this technology she knows that she is a
disabled person. The PDA device prescribed to her can lead to sharing the information to the
service provider or even to the hospital staff who checks her PDA on regular basis for any errors.
2.3 Explain the impact of recent and emerging technological developments on health and social
care services, organisations and care workers
There are several types of assistive devices available to the patients who have their own
positive and negative impacts. It is necessary for the health organisations to analyse the impact of
these devices on the users and also to ensure that these are beneficial for the end users. There are
different types of assistive devices which are used by the medical practitioner for treating the
patients effectively and efficiently (Mossialos and et. al., 2016). Some examples of these devices
are insulin implant, ventilator, artificial limbs, ear implant, heart implant and electric
wheelchairs.
Considering the positive impacts, the assistive technology is helping the health
organisations for maintaining the quality in the services provided to the patients which leads to
good reputation of organisation. Organisations are also getting the benefit of such technology as
due to the technology, their clinical hours are reduced which they can use for other development
activities and treatment procedures. Due to the assistive technology, fraud practices and errors
are reduced which in result will benefit the patients, organisations and staff of organisation.
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Whereas considering the negative impacts, for using this technology, organisations need
to provide training to workers so that they can use the technology properly. Due to this training,
lot of time, efforts and resources of organisation will be utilised. Also, there are chances that the
private information and data can be revealed to other people or getting public. Also for adopting
such technology, huge amount of money and cost are required which can't be affordable to some
patients. So it is advised to the Sally for conducting a cost analysis for ensuring that the
technology is not expansive and affordable for her in order to use it for her independent living.
These are some of the positive and negative impacts which can effect both organisations and
patients to use the assistive technology for supporting independent living.
Part 2
3.1: Identify Jane’s specific needs in order to support Jane to live independently
Jane is suffering from several problems such as learning disability, limited mobility and
chronic health problems which also include Epilepsy and Diabetes type 2. Jane is suffering from
Diabetes type 2 which is causing memory loss, confusion and numbness in hand and foot. Jane is
very busy and 59 year woman who is handling more than a single work in her daily routine. But
because of these health issues she is facing problems in remembering and doing her work
effectively. She is unable to handle her routine business work because of the memory loss
problem.
She needs proper bed rest and better treatment for spending her life comfortably. It is
essential for health practitioner to analyse the complications of case and then proper treatment
must be given to her for obtaining desired results. Jane needs to get proper treatment from the
medical professionals while conducting the tasks of diagnosing. She can face several factors such
as agitation, memory loss, depression, less or no sleep, trouble eating, delusions etc. she is
unable to do her daily work such as washing, cooking, cleaning etc. due to these problems
(Reinhard, Levine and Samis, 2012). Also she fell on the floor because of suspected heart attack
and also does not reach the emergency cord in her room for help. She desired to live in Sunshine
Sheltered Accommodation flat at where she wants to spent her life independently without
depending upon others.
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3.2: Make your own recommendations on how the Technology might support her independent
living arrangements
Jane suffers from learning disability and Diabetes type 2 in which sometimes issues
related to memory , confusion and numbness in hand and foots can arise. Some of the assistive
technologies which can be used by Jane are such as Reminder assistance, Sensors and alarms and
intelligent wiring.
Reminder assistance can help her for reminding time and place. In this technology, the
device beeps after a particular time period or entry in a new place. This technology is essential
for handling the various activities which are performed by her on daily basis (Shogren, and et.
al., 2015). Sensors and alarms are helpful for Jane in order to remind her regarding the various
active tasks. Sensors are helpful for sensing the events and alarm provide the response for the
activity of sensor. Alarms is helpful for Jane to remind the unwanted events which are sensed by
the sensors.
Intelligent wiring and switches are helpful for her in cases when she started to forget her
things or daily routine. Through intelligent wiring and switches, lights and fans along with other
electrical appliances can be controlled. In case when the patients forget to switch off the
appliances then through this wiring and switch, they are switched off automatically. Smart toilet
are useful for checking the blood pressure, heart rate and sugar level which are present in her
urine samples and provide the information to the doctor. This technology is useful for preventing
the other diseases which are result of problems of patients.
Jane can use these above mentioned technologies for supporting her independent living
arrangements without being depending upon other people. She started facing problems related to
numbness, memory and several other problem. For which she can use these technologies and can
live comfortably without any inconvenience.
3.3 Evaluate the usefulness of technology for Jane and also for other users of health and social
care services
Assistive technologies are providing many benefits to the patients and other users of
health and social care services (Stein, 2012). Social care workers are not able to handle many
people at a time is they themselves are disabled in some ways. They can use assistive technology
devices for serving the disabled patents such as Jane and Sally. But these are not the only people
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whi are getting benefits of using such devices. Health care organizations are also taking the
benefits through the invention of assistive devices. These technologies are also helpful for
building a new environment concern in order to reduce the disabilities of huge number of people.
If people are facing difficulty in walking then health organisations are providing them walker
instead of nurses. These nurses can serve the other patients without worrying about the persons
having issues in walking. It will also reduce the budget and cost of health care in the health
organisations. These technologies are useful for providing advance features in order to reduce the
problem of patients from different environment. There has been a rapid developments and
emerging technologies which are helping the disabled persons for supporting the independent
living arrangements of people like Jane and Sally. Some benefits of the emerging developments
are that they provide the quality life to patients which has been improved by using more effective
and efficient treatments. Patients can take treatment from home rather than admitted to a hospital
(Swain and et. al., 2013). With remote testing and diagnosis, people can take treatment from
anywhere instead of going to the hospitals. Treatment time and procedure is also improved by
using such technology. Through such technology, health care organisations can treat more
patients effectively and efficiently.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that the use of assistive devices and technology
is beneficial for the patients such as Jane and Sally for improving their conditions. These devices
are both beneficial and harmful if not properly used or proper information for handling such
devices are not given to patients. In the case of Sally, her doctor prescribed her to use personal
digital assistant (PDA) for aiding her in memory problems. With the use of such device, she can
do her work well without depending upon others. Same is in the case of Jane, she was suffering
from Epilepsy and Diabetes type 2 due to which she is finding it difficult to do her daily work.
Several technologies are suggested to her for ensuring that she does not depend upon other
persons for her care.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Beresford, P., 2011. Supporting people: Towards a person-centred approach. Policy Press.
Campbell, J. and Oliver, M., 2013. Disability politics: understanding our past, changing our
future. Routledge.
Cogan, A.M., 2014. Supporting our military families: A case for a larger role for occupational
therapy in prevention and mental health care. American Journal of Occupational
Therapy. 68(4). pp.478-483.
Dadlani, P. and et. al., 2011. Supporting peace of mind and independent living with the Aurama
awareness system. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments. 3(1).
pp.37-50.
Gaetz, S. and Scott, F., 2012. Live, learn, grow: Supporting transitions to adulthood for
homeless youth–a framework for the foyer in Canada. Canadian Homelessness
Research Network.
Gangavati, A. and et. al., 2011. Hypertension, orthostatic hypotension, and the risk of falls in a
community‐dwelling elderly population: the maintenance of balance, independent
living, intellect, and zest in the elderly of Boston study. Journal of the American
Geriatrics Society. 59(3). pp.383-389.
Jackson, S., 2011. Social works: Performing art, supporting publics. Routledge.
Johnstone, D., 2012. An introduction to disability studies. Routledge.
Lotfi, A. and et. al., 2012. Smart homes for the elderly dementia sufferers: identification and
prediction of abnormal behaviour. Journal of ambient intelligence and humanized
computing. 3(3). pp.205-218.
Mossialos, E. and et. al., 2016. 2015 international profiles of health care systems. Canadian
Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health.
Reinhard, S.C., Levine, C. and Samis, S., 2012. Home alone: Family caregivers providing
complex chronic care. Washington, DC: AARP Public Policy Institute.
Shogren, K.A. and et. al., 2015. Relationships between self-determination and postschool
outcomes for youth with disabilities. The Journal of Special Education. 48(4). pp.256-
267.
Stein, M., 2012. Young people leaving care: Supporting pathways to adulthood. Jessica Kingsley
Publishers.
Swain, J. and et. al., 2013. Disabling barriers-enabling environments. Sage.
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