Technology in Care

Technology in Care

Technology is 'science or knowledge put to practical use to solve problems or invent useful tools'.

• Two million years ago, we started using hand axes to prepare food and make shelters, which would have been life changing.

• Imagine the fear people must have felt when the wheel came along in about 3,500BC! 

• When people first started installing electricity in their homes, many were so wary of the invisible 'force' that they would not consider replacing their far more dangerous gaslights.

Technology and development have always been a part of human life, but there's been so much change over the past couple of decades that it can feel really hard to keep up. It's no wonder we feel overwhelmed.

But most of us are using technology way more advanced than this every day without thinking about it.

Did you know your smartphone is actually a powerful computer 120,000,000 times faster than those that guided the Apollo missions in the 1960's? And they were the size of a car!

We might not always be able to get Sky or Netflix to do what we want, but do we worry about turning on the telly, the hoover or even the shower? How many of us post photos on social media from our 'phones, or video chat with friends?

These are technologies we've got used to using and the fact that we've embraced them means we're are already capable of learning how to use more.

As you learn new skills, your brain develops more myelin (the white stuff) which helps you to learn even better. Your learning speed increases and your brain makes connections between skill areas.

This is great news, because we all know that it's getting harder in every area of life to avoid technology - whether it's your bank account, claiming benefits or getting email reminders for your bin collections, everyone seems to want us to go digital.

These days, even in jobs that used to be completely practical, we need to remember passwords and use computers or tablets, so we all have to use more technology at work too.

The more we use different sorts of technology, the more confident we become and the easier it is to adapt to the newest version of Windows, or a different care package.

It's true that every new 'phone or laptop (hardware) you come across is slightly different, and every bit of software (the programmes we use, like Mobizio) has its own quirks, but you will already have far more transferable skills than you are aware of, from gadgets you already use in your day to day life! Despite what you think, it is really, really difficult to 'break the internet'. There is nearly always a way to undo anything when you make a mistake, but have a go, and ask someone to watch you do a new task for the first couple of times.

The most important thing to remember about technology is that it has only been invented to make everyone’s lives easier and better.  So if we can use it to be more efficient and to make our customers' lives easier and more fulfilling, there's no question that it's our best way forward.

So this quarter we'll be looking at how we already use technology and how we can all become more confident using it.