CARER+ Final Conference: Smart Homecare, 27 March 2015, Paris

1. Carer+ Final Conference:
Smart Homecare – Investing in Skills
& Service Delivery
March 2015 - Brussels
Workforce
Development for
Social Care &
Healthcare Staff
Arising out of
Telehealth
Dr Malcolm J Fisk
mfisk@cad.coventry.ac.uk

2. Acknowledgement
Colleagues within the
European Innovation Partnership in Active
and Healthy Ageing (EIP AHA)
• B3 Action Group on Integrated Care
• Working Group AA3 on Workforce Development
www.homecaredirect.co.uk

3. Health and Social Care Context (1)
• Context of technological change
• Access to information and knowledge
(for all)
• ‘Integrated’ ways of thinking and doing
(health, social care and more)
• Devaluation in the meaning of ‘care’
• Greater emphasis
on self-management
• Staff shortages
and undervalued staff
• Economic and Moral
imperatives to change ways of
‘caring’

4. Health and Social Care Context (2)
• Attention needed to the skills,
knowledge and competence of staff
• Questions regarding the health literacy
and digital skills of carers
• Stronger focus
on ‘well-being’
www.carers.org

5. What is Telehealth (1)?
Telehealth is …the means by which
technologies and related services
concerned with health and
wellness are accessed by people or
provided for them, irrespective of their location.

6. What is Telehealth (2)?
Telecare, social and safety alarms

7. What is Telehealth (3)?
Telecare, social and safety alarms
Vital signs monitoring

8. What is Telehealth (4)?
Telecare, social and safety alarms
Vital signs monitoring
Interactive TV and virtual visits

9. What is Telehealth (5)?
Telecare, social and safety alarms
Vital signs monitoring
Interactive TV and virtual visits
Smart phones and apps

10. What is Telehealth (6)?
… Empowering people through
technologies
…Crossing the health and
social care ‘divide’

11. Telehealth Domains
Some Conditions & Circumstances Telehealth Service Domains
Sight or hearing loss
Mobility and dexterity problems
Mental health problems
Chronic kidney, heart or lung conditions
Neurological conditions
Diabetes
Frailty
Dementia
Pregnancy
Learning disabilities
Palliative care
Provision of health information
Health and motivational coaching
Activity, behavioural and lifestyle monitoring
Gait, seizure and falls monitoring
Point of care testing, and support for
diagnoses/decision making
Vital signs monitoring
mHealth
Prompting for medication or therapy
adherence
Rehabilitation and (re)ablement
Responding to ‘events’
Tele-consultation

12. Telehealth
Everywhere – for Everyone
Anytime
3/26/2015
Home
In school
At college
In work
On the
move

13. What does it mean for
Workforce Development?
(1) EU-US Workforce Development Group
(2) eHealth Stakeholders Group (eHSG) thro’ DG CNECT (EU)
(3) Carenet Project around ICT competences for care
workers and care recipients (EU)
(4) Technology to Care initiative (UK)
Initiatives have two main foci …
• Integration of systems, etc. for
health and social care data
• Integration of front-line
workforces for health and social care
… but contribution of social care
to health often under-emphasised

14. (1) EU-US
Workforce Development Work Group
Orientation towards health informatics …and
collaboration between the eHealth and
Health IT workforce
Health driven (whither well-being?)
Workforce competences being defined e.g.
Managing data collection, reporting and
interpretation
Understanding legal requirements
Understanding role of EHRs
Able to support actions to ensure data privacy
Understanding importance of shared language
Able to interact with patients thro’ telehealth

15. (2) eHealth Stakeholders Group (eHSG)
thro’ DG CNECT
Orientation towards health informatics …
but promoting systems that should operate
across disciplines (including public health)
Focus on eHealth components of required
competence … for current workforce (albeit
looking to greater collaboration)
Welcome recognition of the need
(a) to consider competences of ‘patients and
other citizens’; and
(b) For time and resources to train, guide, assist
patients

16. (3) Carenet Project : Building ICT
Competencies in the Long Term Care
Sector
Reviewed training of competences for care workers
and care recipients
Digital competences identified for both as
• Technological orientation
• Information seeking and management
• Communication,
collaboration and participation
• Creation of content and knowledge
• Privacy and security
• Informed decision-making
and problem-solving PTO

17. (3) Carenet Project: Building ICT
Competencies in the Long Term Care
Sector
Other digital competences
for care workers include
• Enabling ICT use by others …
e.g. by helping to equip ‘older people
to do daily activities like
on-line buying,
communicating with others’ etc.
– plus ability to access and
use relevant services that
relate to health
and well-being.

18. Technology to Care Initiative (UK)
www.technologytocare.org.uk
Developed new knowledge and skill sets for social care
workers (+workforce strategy)
… recognition of ‘distinct areas’ that needed to be
addressed ‘regardless of
traditional service boundaries’
• Confidence in Technology (KS1)
• Rights and values (KS2)
• Sourcing Technologies (KS3)
• Assessment and Review (KS4)
• Safe Installation, Maintenance and Disposal (KS5)
• Remote or Virtual Monitoring & Response Systems (KS6)

19. KS1 Confidence in Technology
• Digital Literacy
o Basic ICT tasks – switching, charging
o Using mobile telephones
• Awareness (and Promotion of) of the
User Benefits of ICT
o The importance and social benefit
of ICT for users and carers
o The ways in which ICT
may help people access information
o How people access services and information
relevant to jobs, education, training as well as
health and well-being

20. KS2 Rights and Values
• Privacy and Confidentiality
o Potential of technologies to breach people’s right to privacy
o How personal information should be safeguarded
• Using and Sharing Data
o Protocols between agencies
• Informed Consent
o Importance of ensuring
that users and carers
views are taken into
account … and consent
obtained with regard to
e.g. use of personal data

21. KS3 Sourcing Technologies
• Range Available
o Understanding of role of such technologies and related services
o How they are procured
o How people can access them – retail outlets, etc.
o How people can learn more about them – signposting, etc.
• Recognising Limits to Knowledge
o The vastness of AT options
o Knowing limitations of knowledge
o Interoperability of technologies
o Recognising key role of specialists

22. KS4 Assessment and Review
• Undertaking Assessments
o Problem solving in family and community context
o Determining risks
o Working with other agencies
o Telehealth in context of other services
• Supporting Self Assessment
o How to assist others
in self-assessing
o Options around
procurement of services

23. KS5 Safe Installation, Maintaining and
Disposal
• Installation Plus
o Free-standing and fitted devices
o Links to power sources, telephone and Broadband networks
o Safety requirements (including handling)
• Maintenance
o Faults and fault finding
o Cleaning / decontamination,
infection control, etc.
o Checks / maintenance per
manufacturer guidance, etc.
o Removal, storage and recycling

24. KS6 Remote and Virtual Monitoring and
Response Systems
• Purpose and Operation of Telehealth Services
o Role and purpose
o Operation with other services
• Interpreting Data
o Importance of data
o Importance of data accuracy
• Making and Handling Calls
o Text, voice, video
o Relevance of information received
o Special care in communication

25. Conclusion
New context demands attention to workforce
development
Relates to understandings as well as tasks … for
health and social care staff
Relates to health and
social care integration
Relates to user
(patient) empowerment
Relates to personal (health) data
Some European initiatives
indicate necessary scope for such
development and the specific
skills, knowledge and
competencies required

26. Thank You
Diolch yn Fawr
Dr Malcolm Fisk mfisk@cad.coventry.ac.uk