Theatre session: Warm care for the elderly with cold technology
Many middle-aged and older people work in care. These employees are extremely valuable because of their extensive knowledge and experience, but are not always the most familiar with technology. How do you get these people enthusiastic about technological innovation and digitization? In the theatre session 'warm elderly care with cold technology' we give the floor to Zorgpartners Midden-Holland.
Change tips
During the theatre session we asked the audience what tips they had for creating support for innovation in their care organisation. Below is a selection of their responses:
Keep an eye on the costs. Smart technology can take things out of your hands, but a scale that can only do one trick is costly for what you get
Provide ICT staff (service desk) on site. This is easily accessible for residents and results in faster help and less frustration
Can use methodology to give users a really prominent role in this
It is possible to stimulate, but how do you deal with locations that do not have much of a budget to realize this vision?
Technology is good if it can be done quickly, but don't be blinded by cheaper alternatives
Let employees and clients first get acquainted in an accessible way by means of, for example, a demo and only proceed to purchase if it is a success
Approach changes on a project basis
Take shop floor ideas seriously, give employees space
Involve the target group in all decisions, from beginning to end
Nice developments, the robot cat, but don't forget the real cat
Listen well and empathize, without imposing your own will
Identify the stakeholders
Be aware of your own actions and what the change will bring in a positive direction
Make choices financially transparent
Test and evaluate the benefits for the employee/client
Appoint a confidant to address employee training and fears. After 6 months, all fears were gone.
Translate the vision into concrete benefits for the client
Listen to what obstacles care professionals experience in order to demonstrate new behaviour. Doing reports and supervising at the same time do not happen by themselves
Make change/new things fun by for example an introduction with games
Make sure that the benefit is clear and that there is time for implementation and evaluation
Include digital coaches to support employees
Introduce an online learning environment
provide a connection between all employees of the organisation
Look for cooperation for innovation
Involve students from the care & technology study programme
Provide a link between the various domotics and intramural and extramural care
Give every employee a mobile phone with which they can report and view files
Take your time, give employees refresher courses every now and then
Don't implement everything at once but implement changes in phases
Start with looking at what the client really needs
Provide a good infrastructure
Appoint directors who can devote attention to a specific subject, such as e-health
Provide 'clutter space', the opportunity to learn by experimenting quickly and easily with the freedom to fail
Do not focus too much on 1 opinion, then you do not see the rest