Who’s Afraid of Robocare?


The benefits of Assistive Technology

In a recent issue of Community Living (1) Robin Jackson asked whether we wanted to go in the direction of ‘Robocare’ and advised readers to wake up to its harmful potential. Sally Warren acknowledges that there could be a dark side to technological care but argues that Assistive Technology can also be liberating.

While we need to be careful about possible threats to people’s dignity and well-being, we should be wary also about spreading an ‘anti’ message about Assistive Technology.

My everyday experience with three of my friends with learning disabilities shows that technology can be liberating but only if a person is supported by people who love and care for them and think about what would really benefit their life. One of these, Cathy, is happy to share her story.

Assistive Technology – or to use the popular term ‘Robocare’ – is the use of technology rather than human labour to provide personal care and support. Examples are personal pendants, sensors to report that people have fallen, epilepsy sensors rather than night-time checks, telephone and computer prompts, and so on. Fears have been expressed that such technology will lead to increased loneliness and isolation, online privacy invasion and cyber bullying.

Cathy is undoubtedly lonely but over the years has shown massive strength in saying very clearly, and sometimes very loudly, what she wants in her life. She now has a ‘community circle’ which truly listens, discusses ideas and supports change to happen.

Proud

Cathy has recently had her funding for support increased. There is no doubt that some paid support, human contact each day alongside natural help from church and other friends, ensures she has the support she needs. But Cathy is proud; she wants to do things for herself and doesn’t want to ask people all the time.

This is hard for her.  She has always enjoyed going out on her own and would walk locally or get the one bus she knows.  The challenge was when she got lost.  This would cause her to panic. She would phone her friend, screaming and crying. Her friend would talk to her, help her calm down and then ask her to walk into a local shop.  Cathy would then be asked to hand her phone to the shopkeeper.  Her friend would then talk to the shopkeeper, find out where the shop was, say he was on the way and ask the shopkeeper to chat to her and let her sit down until he arrived.  To be honest, most shopkeepers were very helpful when this happened but Cathy would feel embarrassed and ashamed for days and would stop going out.

So where does technology come in? Four months ago Cathy had her annual review.  She agreed to see the Telecare team. They arrived within three days of the review meeting and within a week Cathy had technology which increases her independence and freedom. She loves it! She now has a few ‘tech’ things but her favourite is the iHelp device. It took some getting used to but now, if Cathy gets lost, she can press a button. The device is connected to her friend’s mobile. The minute Cathy presses it her friend gets an alert that tells him exactly where she is –  he can then phone her and make sure someone goes to meet her.  The device also sends a message if the battery is running low – again the friend can let Cathy know it’s time to charge the device.

Cathy is really angry that she can’t read.  A letter coming through her letter box addressed to her (she can recognise her name) is likely to make her extremely distressed.  It may be that a supporter or friend is turning up later but in that moment Cathy’s distress can lead to her smashing up her flat and hours of distress.  Now she is learning how to use the scanning pen. She drags the pen along the lines of the letter and the words are read out.   Not perfect, especially if the language is complicated, but Cathy is so proud of being able to understand some of her letters and proudly demonstrates the pen to others.

Simple eh?  Gadgets will never replace human contact but what a difference a couple of gadgets, along with friends and good support, have made to Cathy’s life.

Reference

  1. Back to Bedlam or forward to Robocare? Robin Jackson, Community Living, 30 (4), 2017. For his full discussion of technology in care see Robin Jackson’s Back to Bedlam: what kind of a future faces people with learning disability?, Centre for Welfare Reform, 24 July 2017.

Sally Warren is CEO of Paradigm and a Community Living adviser.