Running Head: Name of Main subject

[Supporting Independent Living]

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 Supporting Independent Living i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction.................................................................................Error: Reference source not found

Part 1: Understanding important technologies and its implications of developments in health and
social care....................................................................................Error: Reference source not found

Use of the technology to support health and social care to those living independently......Error:
Reference source not found

Barriers in the way of using technology..................................Error: Reference source not found

Benefits of assistive technologies, equally to the service userError: Reference source not found

Health and safety consideration associated with assistive technologies. Error: Reference source
not found

Possible ethical issues or dilemmas in relation to use.............Error: Reference source not found

Impact of recent and emerging technological developments. .Error: Reference source not found

Part 2: Evaluation and Recommendation of technologies to support independent living for users
.....................................................................................................Error: Reference source not found

Jane’s specific needs in order to support Jane to live independently Error: Reference source not
found

Recommendations on how the Technology might support her independent living............Error:

Reference source not found

Evaluation of usefulness of technology for Jane and other users of health and social care
services.................................................................................... Error: Reference source not found

Conclusion.................................................................................. Error: Reference source not found

Reference List............................................................................. Error: Reference source not found

 Supporting Independent Living ii

Introduction

The underlying essay is aimed at critically analyzing the role of assistive technologies in

supporting the independent living of those having different type of disabilities and special needs.

Different aspects are to be analyzed in context of two case studies of Sally (42 year old women)

and Jane (59 year old women), suffering with multiple disabilities.

Part 1: Understanding important technologies and its implications of developments in

health and social care

1.1 Use of the technology to support health and social care to those living independently

The independent living is a concept which describes an individual’s ability to take the decision

on its own and make the choices according to his/her own guidelines. For living the independent

life a patients must have adequate information, financial resources and the support system by the

family and friends. The most common users of the health and social care services are the senior

citizens living independently, aged people, working people, disabled children etc. In one context,

the independent living is the social movement which is based on an idea that people having

some disabilities must be enabled to take the same life choices and must have the same civil

rights that are given to non-disabled individuals. In the underlying case study analysis, Sally is

the disabled went of 42 years who is suffering with many disabilities and living independently.

Sally is suffering with numbness and tingling in her eyes patch and foot and also having the

memory issues due to which, he needs health and social care services for improving the health.
 Supporting Independent Living iii

In health care and social care sector, the use of technology for assisting those with disabilities is

highly valued. The Assistive technology is commonly in use which can be a system, a device and

even an object which can help an individual to effectively perform the task in safe manner. Such

assistive technologies are based on different supportive technologies, preventive technologies

and responsive technologies in order to increase the ease for people to prevent any harm, and

perform their tasks (Gusgen and Bhatt, 2012). In the underlying case, Sally was advised by the

specialist to use the assistive technology of eye patch in order to mange her double vision. In

addition to this, Sally was also having troubles due to numbness and weakness in her lower and

upper body and of as she was allowed to use the cane for improving her mobility and

performance of the tasks (Bravo, Rodriguez and Hervas, 2012). The specialist also considered

keyboard as the alternative input method so that Sally could clearly see the letters. Moreover,

sally was also advised to use the hand-held digital assistant for improving the memory skills so

that she can remember the steps in doing the work, and taking her medicines in routine.

1.2 Barriers in the way of using technology

It is important to take under consideration that despite of the fact that assistive technologies can

assist the patients with disabilities, there are some inevitable barriers to use such technologies.

One of the biggest barriers is the lack of support or the lack of training for effectively using the

assistive technologies. Even if a technology is provided to a patient of disability, if he/she does

not know or have information to use it, it can be of no use. The disabled individual may also not

be clear regarding the funding or expenses of the assistive technology and may find is very costly

to afford (Lambert and Al‐Oraibi, Fordham, 2012).

 Supporting Independent Living iv

As per the case study analysis, Sally was also vulnerable to face many barriers and difficulties in

using the assistive technology. She could have found it difficult to remember when to use

particular technology. On the other hand, the eye patch was provided to her, but she could have

feel irritated by the eye patch and that may have increased the issue instead of helping her. Sally

may also not have clear vision or it may have increased the headache with the time (Augusto,

2012). Sally was not use to of driving the vehicle, but she was provided a left foot accelerator

and a spinner knob which may have been tough for her to adopt. She may also have forgotten

when to use the PDA and that could have adverse impact on her memory (Case study). These

barriers can only be reduced by gaining the appropriate guidelines from assistive technology

expert so that accurate advice can help in mitigating the risks. In addition to this, for gaining the

perfect assistance from the technology, Sally’s family members have to stay alert and informed

about how to use assistive technology so that they may help her in using it in the future (Brinkey

et al., 2009). 

1.3 benefits of assistive technologies, equally to the service user

Those practicing the independent living can significantly benefit from the assistive technologies

as these technologies can provide solutions to the problems of those suffering any type of

disability. By using the technologies, these individuals can become more productive and more

independent and can be actively involved in the community. In addition to this, these assistive

technologies can also have positive influence on the patient’s health quality and work efficiency.

They can gain more control over their lives and can also interact effectively (Choi, 2011).

Another major benefit of using the assistive technologies for disabled individuals is that they can

facilitate the friends and family members to effectively communicate with those having disability

and to build strong relationships with them. All of these benefits gain be gained by Sally as per
 Supporting Independent Living v

the underlying case scenario. Sally can be more efficient in completing her work by the assistive

technologies offered to her. By using the eye patch she can clear her vision and can easily

manage the issue of double vision whch can add efficicny into work. As per the case study

analysis, it can be revealed that Sally actually availed these benefits as she done the work as per

the expected hour and he hand-held assistant increased her memory, skills and power to

remember the task such as taking medicines, and finishing the household tasks (Dell et al.,

2012). The analysis has revealed that assistive technologies have enabled the health and social

care organizations to provide the quality care to those living independently and have helped the

patients with such special needs to perform their activities in a proper manner.

2.1 Health and safety consideration associated with assistive technologies

The assistive technologies are based on the high-tech devices and when even providing these

technologies to the patients of disability living independently, it is mandatory to analyze the

health and safety considerations. According to the Health and Safety Legislation of 1974 the

health and safety must be ensured for all of the employees in all activities. According this Act the

safe operation and safe working environment and systems must be provided, there must be

continuance of the secure access to assistive technology, right training must be provided, there

must be enough welfares provisions, and the safe utilization, handling and storage must be

ensured. The rules and regulations are different when providing the assistive technologies at

hospitals, clinics, on the client’s home or in schools. As per the underlying case study, the

services are to be provided at the client’s home. So according to the legislation, Sally should be

provided with the adequate information regarding the safe use of technology. In addition to this,

an assistive technology specialist must involve in the session with client in order to effectively

understand functionality of the technology given to them. In order to prevent the wrong use of
 Supporting Independent Living vi

technology and any harm to the health of Sally, she must be given training to use assistive

technology, and the family members of Sally must also be trained and allowed to use the

assistive technology (Scherer and Federici, 2012).

2.2 Possible ethical issues or dilemmas in relation to use

Ethics are the moral values or principles which drive the individuals’ actions and behaviors and

determine their conduct. It is important to take under consideration that even if an individual is in

compliance with the law, his/her actions can still be attributed as unethical. The ethical

considerations also holds substantial importance when providing the assistive technologies to the

disabled patients as they can be misused or can replace the human contact with the patient. In the

underlying case of Sally, there were many assistive technologies involved in her care that could

have influenced her life significantly. In the underlying case, there are many possible ethical

issues and dilemmas involved. The specialist provided the devices which helped her movement

and completion of everyday task, but at the same time, the dilemma was that this initiative held

the probability of restricting her contact with the human beings such as family members and

friends. In addition to this, another risk was that Sally was provided with technology to assist her

memory, but if Sally use the technology excessively, she could have loss the memory instead of

increasing memory power and that could have lost her contact with the siblings etc (Zamer and

Kerssens , 2012).

In order to avoid the ethical issues, the specialist needs to let Sally decide, which technology she

wants to use. In order to correctly stay in compliance with the ethical requirements when

providing the assistive technologies, it is important that specialist must share the benefits of

using assistive technologies with Sally and must provide the examples of the patients who were
 Supporting Independent Living vii

suffering with the similar problems and how they relieved by using the assistive technologies

(Coeckelbergh, 2010). In addition to this, some other ethical issues and dilemmas can be

prevented by providing the equal access to assistive technology, by respecting the privacy of

Sally, giving her freedom and choice, and promoting the self-determination (Lange, 2012).

2.3 Impact of recent and emerging technological developments

The recent emerging technological developments can have direct impact on the quality of health

a social care services, as well as on the healthcare organizations and their workers. When it

comes to their impact on the healthcare services, it can be analyzed from the recent trends, that

the emerging assistive technologies are playing great role in helping the patients find solutions

for their disability in order to improve their health as well as interactions with society. A new

assistive technology is Telecare which can help the family members to understand when care is

required by a disabled person. As Sally is living independently but suffering many different

disabilities in some situations she might need the help and in such scenario, Telecare sensor can

help in making the other person understand the need of support by patients. In addition to this,

there are many other assistive technologies such as personal alarms, talking clocks, raised toilet

seats, grab rails etc which can prove the effective assistance and help them in getting timely

support (Prasad and Peterson, 2012). As per the case study analysis, Sally’s family members

started noticing that in last 4 years her memory function has improved and after the cognitive

evaluation it was revealed that hand-held personal digital assistant helped her in improving her

memory skills. The device helped her to push a button and remember what to do next and this is

how she gained assistance to remembered complete activities of the tasks such as taking

nutritional supplements or medication (Case study).

 Supporting Independent Living viii

These emerging technologies tend to have significant influence on the hospitals as well. In the

hospital settings, the transitive technologies can help the disabled patients to get the support in

short time. But at the same time, there are some barriers such as lack of training and increased

costs of the assistive technologies which can make it challenging for hospitals to install and use

them effectively. In addition to this, the assistive technologies can also influence the care

workers at the healthcare organizations as well as individuals providing specialist assistance at

the client’s home. The assistive technologies can help the care workers to complete their work

more efficiently and they can quickly provide guidance to the disabled patients. In addition to

this, they can be able to prepare the daily schedule, can set alarms and can improve the care

delivered to disabled patients (Remmers, 2010).

Part 2: Evaluation and Recommendation of technologies to support independent living for

users

3.1 Jane’s specific needs in order to support Jane to live independently

Jane is a 58 year old women living independently, and she is suffering from a number of

disabilities and diseases which can increase challenges for her in the future. Despite a terrible

incident in 2012, she is still eager to go back to her flat and continue the independent living. A

women suffering with learning disabilities, chronic diseases including Diabetes type 2 Epilepsy,

limited moility and Heart problems, she needs a lot of assistance and care. She is suffering

learning disability which is a genetic condition which can be inherited or bough by autism. In

case of Jane, she can live independently as per her wish but for that she needs technological

assistance to understand the information, to acquire the skills and manage her live and routine

tasks independently. As she is also having mobility issues, she also need electric or technological
 Supporting Independent Living ix

equipment so that she can easily move around the house and perform her work or take medicine

for her chronic health issues such as Diabetes type 2 and the heart problem she can discovered

with in Nov 2012. Epilepsy is another chronic issue of Jane which is also needed to be supported

by assistive technology as she is living alone in a flat in Sunshine Sheltered Accommodation and

Epilepsy can cause serious threat to her health and life as it can case her to experience sensations,

emotional issues, muscle stretches and even the loss of consciousness (Case study).

3.2 Recommendations on how the Technology might support her independent living

The assistive technologies are significantly important in the underlying case to support Jane’s

independent living at her flat. A key assistive technology which is most suitable in her age is the

reminder assistance. This technology is recommended as she is suffering with a lot of diseases

and has to take a number of medicines at different times of day. Due to her illness she might

forget to take the medicine on time, and in this regard, this reminder assistance will be very

effective for Jane as it will remind her by beeping after specific intervals. By hearing the beep on

specific time, she will be reminding to take the medicine. another important technology is smart

toilet as Jane is having the heart disease it is very important for hr to check the blood pressure,

her sugar level as well as the heart rate so that she could monitor her health and take the action if

needed. She cannot easily move so an electric wheelchair can help her movement. The learning

disability of Jane can make it challenging for her to take care of sensitive diseases much as

diabetes type which require the ongoing monitoring and care. In this regard, sensors and alarms

must be provided to Jane so that she could handle her life independently and stay updated

regarding which activities to perform in day. The sensors will help her in sensing the harmful

occurrences and the alarms will support her understanding of the harm (Wendt, 2011). As she is

living alone in a flat and has already suffered a heart attack, the risk of another heart attack are
 Supporting Independent Living x

higher, due tow which she needs to stay connected with the doctors, friends and family. In this

regard, she must have the computer to stay connected whole day long and it can also help her in

managing her routine and daily tasks.

3.3 Evaluation of usefulness of technology for Jane and other users of health and social

care services

The technological assistance is significantly useful for the patients or users of the heath and

social are services. These assistive technologies can remind patients like Jane to take medicine,

to perform everyday task, keeps in contact with the world and enable the movement. But it is

important to take under consideration hat excessive use of these technologies can also cause

harm to patients instead of improving the health. For example, Jane needs wheelchair for moving

around the home a she is having limited mobility issue. The electronic wheelchair can enable her

to move but significant dependence of in technology can increase the mobility problems for Jane

and it can also increase the risk of strain on her back bone. On the other hand, the automatic

alarms or the talk calculators are very important for the patients of learning disabilities but if in

any case, battery goes down unexpectedly during the use, it can adversely influence the work of

the user (Sugihara and Fujinami, 2012).

Despite these problems associated with the assistive technologies, there are many ways these

technologies can improve the independent living for not only Jane but many other users of the

health and social care services. The most important assistive technologies that are under use

these days, includes the memory aid devices, locator devices, computers, smart toilets etc. These

assistive technologies can make is possible for such patients to live independently in their homes

without the assistance of family or medical specialists (Bauer and Elsaesser, 2012).
 Supporting Independent Living xi

Conclusion

After the analysis of the role of assistive technologies in improving healthcare for the users and

disusing the role as per the case study analysis, many implications have been revealed. In case of

Sally, the assistive technologies can improve her independent living by improving her

interactions with the society and assisting her to driver, remember her task and taking

medication. On the other hand, Jane who is a 59 year old disabled person with many chronic

diseases can also gains substantial help from the assistive technologies as technologies can

improve her mobility, medication schedule etc. Some barriers have also been discussed such as

extensive dependence, increased health issues, training needs, cost etc but on the whole, it can be

concluded that assistive technologies and have positive impact on the health of disabled

individual wishing to live independently but those technologies must be use appropriately to

avoid the negative consequences.

 Supporting Independent Living xii

Harvard Formatted

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 Supporting Independent Living xiii

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Supporting Independent Living 14