Search results for ‘Subject term:"learning disabilities"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 1 of 1
New models of care supported by assistive technology
- Author:
- ASSOCIATION OF DIRECTORS OF ADULT SOCIAL SERVICES
- Publisher:
- Association of Directors of Adult Social Services
- Publication year:
- 2017
- Place of publication:
- London
An interactive toolkit detailing results of research into how assistive technology can support the areas of most concern to directors of adult social services, including detailed practice examples. The toolkit explores the extent to which technology has been integral to integration in the context of the following four themes: high cost packages; learning disabilities; prevention and early intervention; and demand management. Programme examples include: Televida teleassistance service (Barcelona, Spain); Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council’s telecare model; Assisted Living Leeds; Gloucestershire County Council’s assistive technology for people with disabilities; and West Sussex County’s telecare services, to enable timely discharge from hospital, avoid hospital admissions, reduce domiciliary care or delay admission to a residential care home and referrals are accepted on this basis. Lessons learnt from the examples include: new services can take time to become part of a social care and health workers ‘unconscious’ toolkit; massive variation from one practitioner to another is a challenge to address; savings estimates can be too optimistic and do not take account of attrition; dedicated capacity for assistive technology when starting from a low baseline; there are pros and cons to charging for people with eligible needs which need to be carefully evaluated from the outset; capture the imagination of stakeholders and professionals, assuaging the fears and anxieties that personal care is being replaced by technology by telling real people stories with positive outcomes; and embrace the passion and commitment about the difference technology can make in empowering people. (Edited publisher abstract)