Why Digital Badge 3

This is a blog entry summarising the reading and consideration I have participated in to try to secure the third digital SSSC Badge titled Why Digital.

I found the information thrown up by this entry very relevant to my current practice and job role.

Embracing digital technology has been essential in recording and evidencing service user information to be more transparent and enabling service users to have easier access to their information and data we hold on individuals. 

Role of technology in providing protection, assurance, falls monitoring, medication prompts and  assistance are just some of the core areas technological developments have proved extremely effective. 

The topics in this Badge raised the importance of examing my own attitudes to technology and also, as a manager, the importance of encouraging developments within my teams. 

The Badge has 4 tasks, labelled below a), b), c) & d). The fourth task d) is the Blog entry. I have summarised my responses to the other 3 tasks (a-c) in this Blog Entry.

a) INFOGRAPHIC - DESCRIPTION & ANALYSIS

The instructions were to look at the infographic produced by Skills for Care and assess whether it accurately represents my experience as a member of the social services workforce in Scotland.

The Infographic is titled "Digital capabilities of the adult social care workforce". It is based on a survey of staff and managers. 

I have added in the results from the infographic and added in my own thoughts and observations in terms of my own experience and practice. There were 10 areas covered in the infographic:

1. Staff have confidence in their own basic online skills with over 90% 

feeling confident or very confident.

But 52% of managers feel staff do not have sufficient basic online skills

I would agree with this. As a manager of a service area I do think staff need more online skills development. The staff have adapted to mobile working and some have completed virtual review meetings, demonstrating a willingness to develop.

2. 95% of participants use 

digital technology for at least 

one work related activity

In my service area the figure is 100%. All workers in my service areas use digital technology for electronic client index records. 

3. 45% have a tablet device at 

home compared with 8% having 

a work tablet. 9% use their 

personal tablet for work.

In my service area, no one has a work tablet but most have work smartphones and work laptops. 

4. Managers and most staff see the benefits of digital technology in:

What is digital technology used for?

Improving efficiency, Improving the quality of care services, offering benefits to people they support.

I think staff and managers recognise the benefits of technology such as Just Checking and the Careline/Home Safety Service. Keeping staff focussed on these resources and the new developments remains a challenge. There is still a heavy dependency on visiting personal care workers as opposed to seeking digital solutions as outcomes of assessments when care plans are being shared with service users.

Ensuring staff maintain all relevant aspects of electronic case files remains a challenge. Realising the importance of a digital strategy is central to the approach in our council.

5. What is digital technology used for?

75% Use digital technology to record/manage delivery of care

50% Use digital technology 

with people they support

In my opinion this statement is representative  of my service area. Technology tends to be thought of as recording tools. Within Social Policy there are real steps being taken to improve the service delivery to people including digitising monetary payments in the community and medication within the care homes.

6. What stops the use of digital technology?

Managers:

Staff access to digital technology 

Lack of workforce development in this area

Concerns about online security

Fast pace of change in this area

From my perspective, workforce development is crucial. A lack of this is the main barrier to better use of technology. 

Staff:

Concerns from a small minority that they would spend less time with the people they support

A small proportion were concerned about online security

In my experience some frontline staff cite not having enough time as a reason for not updating records and not attending meetings where developments in technology to benefit workers are discussed. Some workers also do not automatically think about how technology can be used creatively. The volume of work can leave little time for training and development. 

7. Attitudes to using digital technology:

Staff are keen to use digital technology

60% of managers encourage staff to think about digital technology in all they do

Staff are encouraged but in my experience some frontline staff cite not having enough time as a reason for not updating records and not attending meetings where developments in technology to benefit workers are discussed. Some workers also do not automatically think about how technology can be used creatively. 

8. 74% of staff have a personal smartphone.

20% of staff use their personal phone for work purposes.

All staff in the assessment and care management team have smartphones. None of them need to be using their own phones.

9. What current learning opportunities are there for digital technology?

Staff have had the following regularly or occasionally:

Coaching / help from peers 78%

Formal IT training 78%

Self guided learning 69%

Accreditied qualifications 30%

External guidance 47%

Coaching and help from peers is encouraged and available. Formal IT training tends to be limited but is available for staff. Self guided learning is readily available. Accredited qualifications are not really promoted. External guidance is available from self guided learning.

There are other local authorities who appear to have implemented very positive practical applications of technology. For example in Wigan a 60% reduction in falls in Care  Homes was reported due to the introduction of wearable sensors and a 70% reduction in intrusive night turns in Care Homes for residents wearing sensors.

Pushing the increase usage of digital tools in care homes to ensure the continuation of virtual wards, provider training and greater connection with family and friends are areas to be developed. 

I found the infographic really helpful and have shared it with my team at a recent team meeting, with an intention of following this up at the next meeting through a small group discussion. My plan is to utilise the breakout rooms with MS Teams which will give me an opportunity to develop my skill in this area as well as providing a platform for staff learning and development.

b) SELF-ASSESSMENT SCORESHEET

The second part of the Badge tasks was to complete the short self-assessment scoresheet to establish your my perception of my digital capabilities, my confidence in applying them, and the extent to which I feel they are relevant to my role in social services.

I scored myself 3 for capabilities. I feel overall I have an average range of capabilities and skills in digital technology. I intend to make more time to investigate the technology available within our council to improve service users' lives. I also intend to make time to investigate the approach and development by other local authorities.

I scored myself 4 for confidence as I feel I have high confidence to apply my digital capabilities. I regularly discuss and encourage developments in technology with staff and offer support as nd coaching in supervision sessions and ad hoc when required.

I scored myself 5 in terms of relevance to my role. I feel that my digital capabilities are very relevant to my role based on the demonstrable benefits of digital technology in terms of improving the lives of our customers.

c) DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEARNING & PRACTICE. MOTIVATION TO DEVELOP MY DIGITAL CAPABILITIES 

Learning and keeping informed of developments is essential. For example, being able to participate in the processes leading up to the new service user records replacement being identified and then being able to contribute constructively into the modifications that will be required.

I try to keep informed in relation to the technological developments both within and outside of our local authority, looking for examples of good practice that can be championed and promoted within the staff group. 

There are a number of practical applications that can be promoted and utilised and keeping up to date with these is essential. For example,  I started to order laptops rather than desktops when hardware was being replaced. This proved to be a very sound investment as, when the pandemic hit, staff in my service area were able to work remotely and already had understanding and knowledge of how to access the systems. In contrast to this, shortly after I had started with the local authority and the severe weather hit, a number of staff had not enabled their remote access and were not able to work at that time. An awareness of business disruption and how preparations can be made has been usedul learning and practical application.

I feel I am motivated to look at developments in technology to reduce the number of carer visits required in certain situations. This has the positive impact on buildong on the strengths individuals have, reducing dependency on formal care workers. The learning and practical applications have proved crucial as there is a national crisis of availability of care workers, reinforcing the importance of promoting independence where possible.

In addition to this, there are financial savings from technology from reducing the dependency on formal care givers to the prevention of hospital admissions through the reduction of falls.

Encouraging an atmosphere of learning and development amongst the staff group is essential as mentioned earlier.

I hold the staff group.meetings and suoervision through MS Teams. I intend to develop my skills and will utikise the link "How to set up in a meeting breakout rooms:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-breakout-rooms-in-teams-meetings-7de1f48a-da07-466c-a5ab-4ebace28e461"

to conduct a group exercise in reviewing the infographic mentioned earlier in this Blog Entry.

At the earliest opportunity I worked with one of my team managers to develop a care home reviewing team and we developed the use of reviewing some placements though the use of MS Teams (and Webex priort to that). The engagement in assessments reviews proactively, 

rather than waiting for mutually agreed times for a visit, relatives can be met with via MS Teams. At times the staff group can rely heavily on use of telephone and I have been pushing the importance of email use and, extremely importantly, maintaining more accurate digital service user records.

Early use of digital technology for reviewing care home placements proved to be essential rehearsal for the reviews we were instructed to complete for all service users in care homes who had not been reviewed. This meant we could liase closely with other local authorities using MS Teams where people are housed out of area to get up to date information on care home resources. The motivation to learn new digital skills proved essential in reducing covid footfall by completing reviews on line and tying in with medical professionals where required for views on the resident and the care home overall.