Redbridge explores the future of assistive technology in care
How can assistive technology improve the lives of Redbridge residents? Michael’s blog reflects on insights from the Care Technology Showcase and explores what’s needed to ensure these innovations benefit those who need them most.
As part of Care City’s ongoing work with the London Borough of Redbridge (LBR), we are exploring how we can better use assistive technologies to benefit residents and care teams across the borough.
By “assistive technologies”, we mean any devices or software that support people to perform tasks and engage in activities that might otherwise be difficult or impossible for them, to improve their quality of care and their quality of life.
To embrace the benefits of technology, we first need to build greater awareness of assistive technologies on the market and the possibilities they open up. Many care professionals and residents simply aren’t aware of technologies on the market. And even for those who are aware, what’s available is growing so quickly that we’ve heard it’s hard to keep up. So, together with LBR, we recently hosted a care technology “showcase” for health and care staff, along with anyone curious about the future of care and technology in the borough.
This event presented cutting-edge technologies designed to enhance outcomes for residents and with potential to transform the way we deliver care in Redbridge. On the day, we had seven amazing exhibitors, some of which are already playing a vital role in improving care across the borough, and others who are having great impacts across the country. The technology providers joining us on the day were MiiCare, Whzan, Alcove, Circadacare, Informetis, PainChek and Clevacard.
We were keen to hear from attendees on the day about where people saw the biggest opportunities for using assistive technology, and what needs to happen to ensure it can benefit everyone. You can read or listen to their reflections on these topics below.
Benefit #1: Supporting people to stay independent for longer.
One of the most significant benefits of assistive technology we’ve heard is its ability to boost independence – especially for those needing lower levels of support, living in Extra Care / Assisted Living settings, or those who data suggests may need to draw upon support in the near future.
For instance, remote monitoring technologies like Whzan’s blue box are making it possible for care teams to monitor the vital signs of people they’re caring for and escalate concerns to a GP. This enables earlier intervention, reduces hospital visits, and prevents spiralling care needs. Other technologies like Informetis or MiiCare are monitoring for changes in people’s behaviour around their house that might indicate a need for support.
“Remote monitoring” technologies like this are promoting independence by extending the time people can live with less care, compounding the benefits available through technology helping residents to perform tasks they wouldn’t be able to on their own (e.g. to help with communication, or getting safely around the house). In either case, we’ve heard enthusiasm for simple, “noninvasive” technology of the kind that might be accessible to the public as well as people drawing upon formal care services.
Hear more from Cassandra, Operational Manager at Oakfield Lodge Extra Care Team, talk about how technology can boost independence:
Benefit #2: Better evaluating and responding to care needs
Remote monitoring technologies are also helping professionals and families to better understand the needs of people they are caring for. For instance, technologies that monitor movement around the house, or sleep patterns, can be used to evaluate whether someone is getting the right level of support. This can lessen the concerns that families might have about their relatives, when they’re not present with them in the house. For instance, assistive technologies can indicate whether or not someone is having trouble sleeping, getting up many times in the night, or trying to leave the house, in ways that indicate a greater need for care or reveal risks to someone’s health and wellbeing. This kind of knowledge then allows for care to be shaped so that it really fits what people need, and avoids what they don’t – both providing better fitting care, while saving on costs.
Hear more from Richard, Team Manager, about how technology is supporting people to understand and adapt to people’s care needs through better communication and monitoring.
What’s needed to spread these benefits?
Within the technology showcase, we also asked people about the actions we need to take to capitalise on the potential of assistive technology in care, and address barriers to its use. Amongst lots of helpful reflections, three things stood out:
- Share responsibility for assistive technology across roles – The delivery of person-centred care involves many people – people involved in planning, delivering and evaluating the care being offered. This means that opportunities to use or better use technology within a person’s care are found at different times. And they present themselves to different people and professions. Because of this, it will be important that no single profession or individual is relied on to provide all the expertise, answers, or skills needed to get assistive technology up and working well for a person. And it will be important to support different professions to have conversations with families of people receiving care too, to make sure technology can play its best role for a person. We’re currently exploring the potential of a “digital ambassador” type role with Redbridge, to support this – a role could bridge knowledge gaps, and be called upon at key moments to provide expertise and support.
- Help people understand which technology suits which care settings – People want to know more about the appropriate settings for different assistive technologies. Some technology only works well in single-person households. Other kinds are better adapted to care-home settings or multiple-person dwellings. And with further technologies, that understanding is still emerging. As we continue to pilot different tech across the borough, we’ll be in an ever-better place to understand where and when technology can play its best role, and we know that bringing people on that learning journey with us will be essential. To support this, we’re reflecting on how we might provide access to a technology catalogue that makes all this essential information available when it’s needed.
- Build a process for deploying technology that recognises key decision moments – It will be vital to embed assistive technology into existing processes for assessing and responding to care needs, and in line with the “People Matter” model. This might mean building care technology referral processes into care assessment forms, or early conversations about what’s important to a resident. It will mean ensuring that people are asking the right questions and have the right knowledge (or access to knowledge) about technology at moments when care decisions are being made. We’re currently working to understand the perspectives and preferences of different people who’ll engage this process, so we can shape a journey for assistive technology referrals that can work smoothly, to truly maximise its potential.
What’s next for us?
The above are some early findings about the requirements of an assistive technology programme. We plan to build on, challenge, and refine these through further engagement with residents and professionals in broader work we’re doing. This includes:
- “Early adopters” workshops: We are collaborating with frontline staff and care workers already using technology to explore barriers they’ve seen to its adoption and how we might overcome those. A big focus here is cultural factors – how people’s backgrounds and views shape their perception and openness to tech, and what that means any tech programme needs to look like.
- A digital skills audit: We’ll soon be rolling out a digital skills audit to better understand how equipped Redbridge care professionals feel to engage with assistive technology, and where they might want or need support.
- Co-design with residents: We’re bringing Redbridge residents into design activities so they can help shape how people will access assistive technology across the borough.
- Further technology showcases: We are keen to host more showcase events to reach even more people interested in the benefits of assistive technology.
We will continue to share our findings and reflections as we progress with exploring and shaping the best role for assistive technology in Redbridge.
But we also want to hear from you…
If you have experience or interest in what we’ve shared, please let us know:
- What similar or different challenges around assistive technology have you faced? How did you respond to that?
- What steps have you taken to maximise the benefits of assistive technology?
- What else should we be thinking about?
If you’re interested in learning more, or bring part of our continued learning, reach out to Callum Church. We’d love to hear from you.
