Understanding the Use of Technology to Support Independent Living
Supporting independent living is important with its main goal being the provision of a safe, secure, stable home where people with additional requirements attain their potential, and live independently. Supported living provided is long-term settlements for people who have been in long-stay hospitals, homeless, residential care or those that are not supported by their relatives (Batavia 2001). Maintenance of good health is attained by the provision of good quality accommodation; supported living provides a secure environment where people get support to handle daily problems without the need for costly interventions (Francesca et al 2011).
Technology has greatly evolved the healthcare services enabling patients like Sally to live life in a better way. Supportive technology helps the elderly or the disabled in conducting various practices that they were capable of handling initially but can no longer conduct them presently due to their medical condition (Mann 2005). Assistive technology ensures the patients are provided with “adaptive tools” which give assistance to the patients in conducting certain activities. Sally experiences numbness and weakness on the right side of her body this has interfered with her daily activities such as: driving her children to various after-school practices, going to and from work. Her functioning at work is also compromised as she is having difficulties in handling her activities as well as communicating with other individuals; her eyesight is also affected. However, due to technology, Sally has undergone supportive independent living through the provision of various necessities required as she adjusts to her new form of living (Borkowski 2015).
Sally is provided with a PDA (personal digital assistant), due to her situation, she experiences memory loss, and the PDA enables remember what to be done next by just pushing its buttons. The PDA (pocket coach) is a crucial device, which allows Sally to remember things, such as important healthcare activities, which include taking nutritional supplements and medications, following the memory loss problem she is suffering from. Sally is also provided with a walking cane to help improve her mobility, a keyboard with a large surface and bright background color (yellow) is also provided by the assistive technology expert to enable her type easily even with the problem of impaired vision. Provision of toothbrush handles and the dressing stick were part of adaptive tools used to enable Sally to manage her life. Her cooking is also aided by the provision of recipe-card holders, large-handled pans, and pots as well as jar openers; her gardening was also aided by the provision of adapted garden tools. The idea of supportive independent living could be impossible with the absence of technology, as it has helped many patients live independently.
How Technology Can Be Used to Support Sally in Living Independently
Technology, however, has various challenges and barriers associated with it, these barriers include, technical issues, training users, and staff, attitude towards change, cost, unwillingness in accepting technology and difficulties in maintenance (Copley 2004).
Some of the assistive technology devices are expensive and some patients cannot afford them. For instance, in the case of Sally, there is the provision of a PDA and some other adaptive devices, which are expensive, however, Sally being an executive accountant she can afford this device. It is easier for her to attain the advanced keyboard, PDA, cooking accessories and advanced garden tools as she has a source of income that can cater for these requirements. However, there are cases when a patient is unable to cater for these requirements, especially the use of digital devices, which are normally expensive; this poses a barrier to the use of technological assistance.
The training program is a barrier to using assistive technology, training the staff on how to train the patients on how to use these technological devices is never an easy task. For instance, the PDA device helps Sally deal with her memory problem; however, it would be impossible for her to understand the features of the PDA this is due to her eyesight problem. Sally might also lack more information on how to use various assistive devices such as the use of the advanced garden tools and cooking tools this making her find the devices complicated and uneasy to use. To overcome this barrier enough training to both the staff and patients is required, in Sally’s case a driver expert is recommended for her to train her in adapting to her new driving skills (Baxter 2012).
Sally who is having difficulties in remembering might forget the use of some technological devices provided. The eye patch provided may make her feel some eye irritation that may make her unwilling to use the eye patch with the fear that it might cause more eye problem (Fischer et al 2014).
The assistive technology devices are prone to failure a situation that makes them be maintained regularly, however, this might be difficult for the patient who will have to incur additional costs. For instance, failure of the left foot accelerator in Sally’s car will require repair and this is an added cost to Sally. Some electronic devices such as the PDA, which is the “pocket coach” to Sally, operate by utilization of battery, which after a given period may require charging, and failure to do this may render this device useless.
The Barriers to the Use of Technology to Support Sally in Living Independently
The user’s life is improved through efficient and effective treatment of patients. The social and health service users are enabled to improve the quality of their health and can conduct their work activities efficiently. Sally is provided with an eye patch to help her with her vision, she is also provided with the PDA to help her with her memory issue and this helps remember crucial activities such as taking medications (Goldzweig et al 2009).
Patients are able to remain in their homes instead of being admitted to care homes or hospitalized, and services are provided at the patient’s convenience. Solutions are provided effectively by assistive technology and individuals suffering from various disabilities have been enabled to be part of the society, independent and productive. Sally is recommended to a social worker who helps her with counseling and support concerning her work, personal decisions and finances, this is crucial as it helps her fit in the community considering her new medical status.
Patients are able to conduct their daily activities such as cooking, going to the office and driving freely. Sally’s car is adapted with a left foot accelerator and a spinner knob to help her drive effectively to and from work and take her children to various after-school activities, a driver expert is provided to train her on how to drive effectively (Istepanian 2004). She is also provided with assistive cooking tools such as the recipe cardholders to enable her conduct her cooking appropriately, adaptive gardening tools are also provided to help her in gardening.
Specialized work functions such as typing, making notes, and talking have been dealt with by provision of special digital tools. Sally’s typing issue due to her double-eye vision problem has been dealt with by provision of a keyboard with large black letters and bright background (yellow) color to enable her type easily; her memory problem has also been dealt with by the provision of a PDA (Buntin et al 2011).
The assistive technologies have also improved the lives of the family and friends of the patient. The use of digital devices enables the patient to live independently; with minimal requirements for assistance from either relatives or friends, this makes life easier. Sally’s condition affected her children too as she wouldn’t be able to drive them to after-school activities, however with assisted technology she was able to adapt with her new forms of driving and this enabled her care for children effectively. Her cooking was affected due to her numbness this was dealt with by provision of adaptive cooking tools, which enabled her to cook for her family.
The Benefits of These Technologies to Health and Social Care Organizations and Their Users in Relation to Sally’s Case Study
Assistive technology has also improved the lives the nurses and the social service workers. Use of assistive technology devices makes it easier to conduct various activities rather than the manual way of doing work (Yusof et al 2008). For instance, Sally is losing memory and the nurses have a responsibility to remind her of vital activities such as taking nutritional supplements and medication, this might be tiring, however, with assistive technology Sally is provided with a PDA, which reminds her of her daily activities by just pushing a button on the device.
The nurses and medical professionals have also gained various additional skills in handling various patients. Assistive technology involves the application of various tools some of which are complex and require training; the staff (nurses, social workers, and medical professionals) requires a training program to understand how these devices are used in order to handle their patients effectively (Kamel 2007). Sally is using various digital devices such as the PDA, which require specialists to train her specialist to include nurses who gained skills and knowledge from the training program for handling patients (Cresswell 2013).
The Safety and Health Legislation 1974 necessitates the establishment of an educational program across all sectors (Parker 2003). The legislation perceives that safety and health are guaranteed in nearly all work practices. The Act entails: Enough welfare to be provided to the employees, safe storage and handling of hazardous materials, secure outlet and access to the place of work, appropriate training of the staff to ensure safety and health and safe upholding and operation of the working system and environment.
Assistive technology provides countless health aids to the social organizations and health care as well as to the patient (Crawford 1977). However, various disadvantages have risen due to this assistive technology such as the complications of some new adaptive devices. These devices are new and complex while the possibility tests carried out to make them less complicated have not been enough. For this reason, safety and health aspects are to be addressed to ensure effective use of the devices, these aspects include:
Safety check: the safety dealings of the assistive devices should be of high standards for every patient. A poor quality of the assistive technology device can result in damage and this might cause the worsening of the health problem. Sally’s devices such as the PDA are checked to ensure they are appropriate for her to use (Lèfstedt 2011).
Interference of the process of recovery: circumstances of physical damage or accidents can be dealt with by the assistive technology devices, which are normally helpful during the recovering process. However, the introduction of the assistive devices should be in a strategic method for more effectiveness during the recovery process instead of interfering with the recovery process. For patients suffering from an injury or a trauma, assistive devices may make them unwilling to use them and this can affect the process of recovery. Sally is provided with assistive devices such as the eye patch for her vision problem, however, in case of irritation in her eye, due to the device, resulting to headaches, which might worsen the problem of vision.
Extended effects on the patient’s health: the assistive technology devices are useful in helping the patients in their daily activities and enable them to live independently. However, in circumstances of injuries, it is vital to recognize the extended effects of the assistive devices on the health of the patient. Sally is provided with the devices to help her live independently,
However, some of this device such as the keyboard is not long lasting and with time, she will be straining to type this might worsen her problem lengthening the recovery program.
The ethical contemplation in the application of assistive technology, states that technology might be misrepresented and this can change the human connection (Dunn 2015). Sally is provided with the PDA, which is totally controlling her life this makes her focus on the wonders of the technological devices she has instead of connecting and interacting with the people around her. The movement freedom is also restricted and this might affect the patient’s life, the technological devices provided restricts Sally from going to some places and this affects her life, therefore it’s advisable that the disabled shouldn’t be forced to use some of the technological devices which are not appropriate for them.
The technology products and computers provided for helping the patients have proved to be challenging. Sally is provided with a large keyboard for typing this might pose to be complicated making it difficult for her to adapt to the new situation (Clemmons 2005). The PDA device provided is complex and it might end up being misused for unethical benefits. It is important to note that, just as these devices are advantageous they also have side effects, some of them leave the patients weak. Sally has to depend on a walking cane to enhance her mobility and without this; she is unable to move efficiently.
Assistance technological devices are at times used to monitor the patient. Sally has been provided with the PDA which enables boost her memory in remembering conduction of various activities. These devices have provided fast assistance to the patients but they have also violated their privacy. Some people, however, may use the information for unethical reasons, for example, an individual can use Sally’s information present on her PDA device for manipulation. Therefore, it is essential to keep the patient’s information private, as there is the use of computers for sharing information.
The assistive devices are helping patients improve their lives and they are enabled to interact with the society freely (Day 2004). These technologies include:
- PDA, cooking devices, garden devices, eye patch, walking cane and the spinning knob provided to Sally are adaptive devices that enable her to live independently and communicate with people around her effectively. For these reasons the upcoming assistive technologies are of great use to the users, for example, the PDA helps Sally with her memory problem and the eye patch enables her to overcome her double vision problem.
These technological devices, however, apart from being useful they also have negative impacts. For instance, to the health-care workers, technology helps them in giving directions to patients and helps in conduct their work quickly; however, in some cases the care workers are less skilled or trained in handling the technological assistive devices (National Research Council 2009). To the organization, the technology is helpful in the provision of maintenance to a huge number of patients within a short time, on the other hand, the technology may be expensive for installation in the organization.in schools, technology enhances the student’s awareness on helping the disabled, and however, this can make the students depend on it forever.
Specific needs refer to those requirements that are given to the individuals suffering from a disease. Individuals with genetically affirmed disabilities such as dementia or epilepsy have been believed to be individuals who require specific needs (Liberman 2009). For this reason, the government has developed facilities to take care of them including the; education facilities, service homes as well as social and health care services. Dementia patients need specialists to care for them to ensure that they are hygienic, medical, nutritional and eating needs are fulfilled (Seligman 2007). From Maggie’s case, it is learned that she is a dementia victim causing to her lose memory constantly this is affecting her mentality. For this reason, Maggie is unable to conduct her daily activities effectively such as taking her medications and doing her house chores effectively as she is reported to leave her water taps flowing. This case calls for specific needs required by Maggie and this include:
- Emotional support, it is seen that Maggie recently lost her husband emotional support is vital to enable her to cope up with the new situation. This will help her with the memory loss and memory distortion problem, which is, are some of her special needs.
- Flexibility, affection, and Tolerance, people around Maggie need to tolerate the change of her behavior and show her affection, especially her daughter, it’s seen that she is restless and wonders around, as she is reported not to be in the house at night, provision of good care processes can also help.
- Maggie might forget daily activities such as cooking, turning off taps and switches; this can be dealt with the provision of efficiency and capability improvement modules.
- She might be forgetting roadmaps and location of her house this is explained by the fact that when her daughter visits her she is not found in the house, this can be dealt with by provision of understanding and learning needs through special training modules and courses
- Alarms and sensors: this will enable Maggie to conduct her daily activities by updating her on various things to be done. The sensors might also help her in detecting harmful incidences and the alarm, on the other hand, will provide a solution to these occurrences (Brantlinger 1995). Tele-care should also be provided to her, this should involve locator devices.
- Reminder assistance: this will be essential in reminding Maggie, who is having memory distortion, of the place and time. This will allow her to take her medications and remember her home place.
- Daily Activity Overseer: this are digital devices that will record Maggie’s daily activities and record any alterations in the usual pattern, this will help avoid emergencies.
MAT (Movement Assistive Technology): digital devices that can help Maggie in her mobility and worn her of any challenging situations.
Assistive technologies can be positive as well as negative; this includes the talk calculators, which are valuable for patients with impaired vision and for the learning of the patients. However, these devices require the use of power and low battery while being used can affect the patient’s functioning. The wheelchairs assist the patients who are unable to walk; however, they can cause straining of the backbone of the patient (Fleming 2014).
The assistive devices that are useful to Maggie are the locator devices, which can help the family of Maggie in locating her, Maggie is also helped by this device whereby she can use them to locate forgotten products. The memory aid assistive device is also essential as it helps her dealt with the memory issue, this device reminds her to carry out specific tasks such as taking medications.
Conclusion
Supporting independent living has greatly improved the life of disabled patients such as Sally and Maggie, the idea of supporting independent living has been possible by the progress of assistive technology.
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