Connecting Care

Making The Most Of Technology

Miles Maier – Project Manager

Paul Webster – Community Builder & Technology Consultant

About Lasa

“Lasa helps thousands of third sector and government organisations across the UK to deliver efficient, high quality services.  We are a charity which offers knowledge, support and resources.”

25+ years in the charity sector• Technology leadership, publications, events and

consultancy• www.lasa.org.uk/ict

Welfare Rights• Advising advice workers• www.rightsnet.org.uk

About you

• Type of Organisations

• Do you use IT or Digital Technology?

• Does your organisation have an IT plan?

• Do your staff … and also your beneficiaries use technology?

• Your biggest IT grumble!

Q. What do you want to learn from today's session?

What is Connecting Care?

• Background to the project

• Why it is needed for small providers in the sector

• How we are delivering the project – the Process...

The process

• Register your interest, upto 20 orgs per year

• ICT self-assessment

• Action plan

• Link to professional IT Volunteers

• Provide resources, email & phone guidance

• 2nd visit to follow up on progress

• Future ideas for Year 2 & 3

• Training – on-line & workshops

• Events – or local support networks

• Community – on-line peer support

Who are we working with at the moment?

• Small independent providers of care in the VCS

• 15 so far in 2013/14……5 more planned

• Day care centres, independent living centres, care homes, care agencies

• Covering all of England, most in the North

The Scary Parts…

The Scary Part

• Large organisation not backing up data

• ‘Networking' files via a USB stick

• Reception PC shared by two organisations

• No budget for strategic IT

• Paper based care records

• Importance of ICT not recognised by Trustees

• Poor service by ICT Suppliers

• No ICT Support plan in place

• Emails printed for CEO with no PC

The Good Parts...

The Good Parts

• Dedication by volunteers

• Activities Co-ordinator using Skype and Youtube

• Many homes with Wi-Fi

• Potential of tablet devices

• Potential of online to offer significant cost & time savings

• IT Training suites & eager learners

• Facebook to tell good news stories

Technology concerns?

• Where to start

• Knowledge

• Confidence / Fear

• Capacity / Resources

• Access

• Time

• Cost

• Scepticism

• Any more?

Exclusion Barriers

• 18% of Adults have never been online

• Accessibility - hardware, software, websites

• Skills – lack of online skills – build confidence

• (29% UK Online Learners have disability)

• Cost – of equipment and connections

• Knowledge – jargon that puts people off

• Connection – rural broadband

• Help - AbilityNet, Online Basics

ICT on a ‘shoe-string’

• ICT planning

• Social Media

• Hand Held Devices

Or...

Is your social media stuck in 1992?

Have a social media plan

• Know your objectives and what you want to say•Come and see the work our project has been doing!

• Research where your audience are – do you know?•Survey and find out, work in spaces where your target audience are

• Plan how to use the tools – have a strategy•An opening event?, e-bulletin update? Do ‘as well as’ what you do

• Choose tool to match audience and implement•Look at what other organisations have done, what works elsewhere?

• Sustain the conversation and say thank you•Encourage people to return, keep it new, links from websites

•Engage with people on line, be receptive, respond, react

First steps…..• Have a web presence – it's the first place people look for

your organisation

• Planning what you want to do with technology

• Taking everyone in organisation along with you

• Finding funding (or free solutions) for it

• Supporting and Sustaining – online support communities and resource banks

• Use free tools

Website building tools

PAID• Ning: www.ning.com (from £60/year)• SquareSpace: www.squarespace.com (from £5 to £15

monthly)• Jam: http://onesite.madewithjam.org (£48/year)

FREE• Google Sites: http://googlesites.org.uk• WordPress: www.wordpress.org• Drupal: https://drupal.org/

Tablet and mobile devices

• Tablet PCs becoming affordable – starting from £49, even supermarket own brands.

• 12.2 million people own one, including around 1m of those over 55 (Ofcom 2012)

• 30% of all UK web traffic from phone or tablet (ComScore – Dec 2012)

• 82% of all UK mobile phone sales are smart phones and 71% of phones purchased by over 55's in Dec 2012 smartphones

• 19% of smartphone users aged over 55 (6.1 million people)

Why use tablets & smart phones• Light, quick and easy to start using

• 'The Internet’ in your hand

• Easily personalised screens

• A more social shared way to to view the web

• 59% use to check social networks, 49% for on line

shopping, 36% on line banking. 75% of people get

news first on line.

• Have you viewed your website on a tablet?

Using tablets/smart phones in careFor staff and the organisation

• A portable way to access care plans & record case notes

• As a mobile office reducing time, travel & paperwork

• See http://apps.nhs.uk/ & http://www.iautism.info/en

For residents and service users

• BIG Launcher

• 'Memory Trainer' & 'Brainy App‘ help with Alzheimer's and Dementia

• Activities – Youtube, Flickr, Streetview for reminiscence

• Keep in touch – Skype & Google Hangouts

• Skills – Choiceboard Creator, Life Skills Winner

• Games – Pocket Pond, Talking Tom Cat

Finding the right tool for the task

http://nptechuk.wordpress.com/sms-links/From Flickr – Claire Sutton and justinbaeder

Key questions

• How do I decide what tools I need?

• How do I decide what tools are right for me?

• What online communications tools do you use?

• Do you think you are getting the most out of them?

Resources

Our top 5 free and easy

1 Doodle – plan meetings

2 Mailchimp – newsletters

3 MyComputer MyWay – guides & advice

4 Technology Trust – donations

5 Hootsuite – manage multiple Facebook &

Twitter accounts

Our Top 5 not-for-profit tech websites

1 ICT Knowledgebase – 500 articles about makingmost of technology in a small org

2 Community How To – covers main digital websiteswith reviews & intro guides

3 KnowHow NonProfit – marketing & comms guidesfor small charities that you can edit

4 SCIE – wide range of free e-learning courses covering health & social care topics

5 Digital Unite – guides you can print to help get started with tech

Technology ideas for work with older people ...

•My Home Helper: https://www.myhomehelper.co.uk

•assists with daily routines for individuals living with memory loss

•Skype Bingo

•Berneslai Homes linked sheltered schemes to play Bingo over Skype with webcams & large screens

•Eldy: http://www.eldy.eu/ http://www.welcometoalex.com/

•Turns any standard PC into an easy-to-use computer for people that have never used a computer before

•Internet Buttons: http://www.internetbuttons.org/•Removes complicated bits of the web to give easy access to places you need

Technology for older people...

• A well lived life in older age is being Healthy and Happy, Independent but not Isolated. Connected technology can help

• Telecare technology – 'safe independence'.

• “Using the Internet should be fun, not a chore” (Age UK 'ITea and Biscuits' sessions)

• It's about sharing conversations with people near and far - Intergenerational

29

The future…..?

Technology trends…• Sales of tablets and smart-phones outstripping

desktop PCs and laptops

• Digital transactions, not face to face

• Virtual money (BitCoins)

• Affordable 3D printing of every day objects

• Wearable tech (RFIDs)

• Augmented reality (Google Glass)

• AI and The Internet Of Things

• Speech to text apps

Next steps?

• Start small – what one could you try out today?

• Strategic IT planning• Involve everyone. • Apply to Marketing, Fundraising &

Communications• Keep it relevant and human• Implement, monitor and adjust – and

remember it takes time

Lasa tech stuff….

Free lasa website tools:• www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk• www.suppliersdirectory.org.uk

Free lasa publications:• Computanews bi-monthly technology newsletter

• http://storify.com/lasaict

Free technology events• A series of flagship events on topical technology issues for

the third sector. TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON

Any questions?

We can all be a Digital Champion or Social Media Surgeon for an older person in our community.

We are looking for organisations to take part in 2014.

Contact us or sign up if interested

www.surveymonkey.com/s/ccsignup

Thank You

Miles Maier – Project Manager

mmaier@lasa.org.uk 020 7426 4496

Paul Webster – Community Builder & Technology Consultant

pwebster@lasa.org.uk 020 7426 4498