Catch up with our guests on the Disruptive Social Care podcasts!

Stu and I would like to say a big thank you to all of our guests who have featured in the podcasts to date and just in case you have missed any here is a round up.

This show features Part One of our interview with the innovative FutureGov’s Dominic Campbell

The interview was a full hour and was so good we decided not to edit it down, but give it to you in two parts!

Follow Dominic: https://twitter.com/DominicCampbell
And check out FutureGov and their projects: http://wearefuturegov.com/

This show features an interview with the lovely Paul Taylor, Innovation Coach at Bromford Group.

Follow Paul: https://twitter.com/PaulBromford
And read his blogs: http://paulbromford.wordpress.com/ &https://www.rebelmouse.com/PaulBromford/

A huge thank you to our show sponsors!
https://twitter.com/BPDFFS – https://www.facebook.com/FFS.BPD
https://twitter.com/Ermintrude2
https://twitter.com/claireOT – http://claireot.wordpress.com
https://twitter.com/clarkmike – http://www.telecarelin.org.uk
https://twitter.com/PaulBromford
https://twitter.com/FOL_LTD – http://www.focusedonlearning.com
https://twitter.com/MindingsStu – http://www.mindings.com
and
#connectedcarenetwork

Paul Burstow was our special Xmas guest on the Disruptive Social Care podcast. Paul is the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Sutton, Cheam and Worcester Park. Paul  was appointed as Minister of State for Health (Care Services) in May 2010 and lost this position in the Cabinet reshuffle of September 2012. Paul is the Chair of the Committee on the Draft Care and Support Bill.

Richard Humphries is a Senior Fellow at the King’s Fund. He leads on social care and work across the NHS and local government. He is a recognised national commentator and writer on social care reform, the funding of long-term care and the integration of health and social care.  @richardatkf

Antony Ribot is at the forefront of user-experience design, and founded the highly regarded “ideas lab” Ribot with his brother Jerome. Ribot created Threedom – the world’s simplest smartphone. Threedom is the first simple interface built to allow anyone to easily use a touchscreen mobile. @RibotMaximus

Mark Brown has been described as one of the smartest thinkers in the worlds of social media and mental health. Mark edits One in Four, England’s only national mental health and wellbeing magazine written by people who experience mental health difficulties. Mark is a director of Social Spider a community interest company helping people to make change happen. Twitter @markoneinfour

Paul Hodgkin is the Chief Executive of Patient Opinion which was founded in 2005 and has grown to be the UK’s leading independent non-profit feedback platform for health services. Paul says his “eureka moment” about Patient Opinion came in 2004 while logged on to the buying and selling website eBay. @paulhodgkin

Andrea Sutcliffe is the Chief Executive of the Social Care Institute for Excellence and is passionate about making a difference. She has been at the interface of health and social care for much of her career. SCIE  promotes high-quality social care for children and adults. It has pioneered digital training for anyone working in the social care field.  @Crouchendtiger7

Martyn Sibley is a blogger, social entrepreneur, founder of the lifestyle magazine Disability Horizons and he creates Webinars, eCourses and eConferences. He works as a consultant on social media, new media and marketing. Martyn is disabled, and living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) which means that he can’t walk or lift anything heavier than a book. @martynsibley

Murtz Abidi is the founder of the Casserole Club a food sharing network, bringing local communities together around home-cooked food. Currently being piloted in Surry there are plans to extend the service across the country. There are a lot of people cooking food who would be happy to cook a bit extra to share with isolated neighbours who would appreciate a home cooked meal. The goal of Casserole is to connect the two using online and offline connections. This is a great way for local communities to tackle social isolation. @Casserole_Club

Helen Keegan is a specialist consultant in mobile marketing, advertising and media who develops mobile strategies and creates products and services. She produces the Heroes of the Mobile Screen conference and runs the mobile networking event Swedish Beers in London and Barcelona. @technokitten

Come and “Like” us on Facebook if that’s your thing, and you can follow us on Twitter @shirleyayres and @mindingsstu. Add #deukcare to add your comments to the debates about care, technology and innovations.

If you would like to discuss recording the Disruptive Social Care podcast at your event or conference contact Stu Arnott to discuss the cost and logistics.

Website: http://www.disruptivesocialcare.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DisruptiveSocialCare

YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/disruptivesocialcare

 

How the internet and digital technology can combat isolation

In a week that Jeremy Hunt announced a new initiative to combat the isolation and loneliness experienced by millions of people it does seem extraordinary that so few local authorities and Health and Wellbeing Boards are  exploring how digital technology can connect people and communities. With an increasing number of web and mobile based applications from simple information to more complex care management tools digital technology has the potential to transform the delivery of care and support in communities. It is fair to comment that access to high speed broadband will be an essential element to realising the full potential of digital technology for providing.

An impressive amount of research has been undertaken and reports produced to explore the challenges, barriers and opportunities of encouraging older people to use the internet and digital technology to live more independent and fulfilling lives.  The internet and digital technology has a very valuable role to play in providing access to services and support to those who have difficulty accessing them in the offline world.

Recent studies have linked internet use to mental health problems and loneliness among young people but recent research from the University of Alabama shows that older people who utilize the internet for social purposes are less likely to suffer from depression

 “Technology is a vital part of human existence. They show us that the right tools, in the right hands, can help everyone, regardless of our frailties, to achieve our true potential and advance as a civilisation.” Professor Stephen Hawking accepting his  AbilityNet ‘Excellence in Accessibility Award’ at the Technology4Good awards September 2012

I would like to introduce you to just a few examples of exciting and cost effective innovations which could be promoted by local authorities. Many more example are included in my forthcoming eBook “The Click Guide to Digital Technology for Care”

DropBy is an interactive website for people over 60 and their families. It is designed to help keep older people ‘in touch’ by providing a secure place for the over 60s to meet both online and in real life. Joining DropBy can provide a life-line for those who live alone, in residential care or who are feeling isolated. Membership is free and privacy is a priority.  Twitter @MaryBDropBy

Casserole Club is a food sharing network, bringing local communities together around home-cooked food. Currently being piloted in Surry there are plans to extend the service across the country. There are a lot of people cooking food who would be happy to cook a bit extra to share with isolated neighbours who would appreciate a home cooked meal. The goal of Casserole is to connect the two using online and offline connections. This is a great way for local communities to tackle social isolation. Twitter @Casserole_Club

Hear Murtz Abidi founder of the Casserole Club talking about the inspiration behind Casserole on the Disruptive Social Care podcast.

The Good Gym makes it easy for people to combine exercise with doing good in their local community. The Good Gym unlocks volunteering potential by channelling the energy that people spend on exercising and turning it into positive social action. It was set up to connect elderly and isolated local residents with a runner on a mission: to get fit, do something useful and to provide social interaction. The Good Gym currently operates in East London.
Twitter @goodgym

Mindings uses technology and social media to enable people to send personal captioned photos. text messages and calendar reminders to a digital display instantly from a mobile phone. This is especially important when families are widely dispersed and want an easy way of keeping in touch and connected whether they are living at home, in residential care, in hospital or in different parts of the world. Twitter @MindingsStu

Update 3rd December 2012. Delighted to hear that  Mindings has recently  won £100,000 of funding to pilot the service within a local integrated health and social care system in the Midlands and East of England.

“I’m thrilled that the potential of Mindings has been recognised. My co-developer Ian Pleasance and I are incredibly excited about working with DACS, Age UK and the East of England local authorities to connect families and help combat loneliness and social isolation!”  Stuart Arnott Mindings Founder

I understand that accessing and learning about the digital world can be a challenge for many individuals. Research shows that learning in the later stages of life can boost confidence, give residents a more positive outlook on life and delay the onset of dementia. While some older people have a good grasp of how to use computers already, many lack confidence in their ability to learn something new.

Gen2Gen is an intergenerational  IT mentoring scheme, which involves young people working on a one to one basis with Abbeyfield residents to help  them access digital technology and social media. UK Youth is providing training for young volunteers.  These young volunteers will then support older people in Abbeyfield to use the internet, continue their hobbies and interests and stay in contact with friends and family. Twitter @ukyv   and @TheAbbeyfield

Alive is using digital technology to help older people in residential care to re-live a wealth of experiences and achievements and reinvigorate past interests. Identifying shared experiences and interests creates a focus for conversation, helping introverted, isolated people to join in and connect with both care home staff and other residents. Twitter @aliveactivities

Chill4usCarers provides a support forum run by volunteer family carers and ex carers. Social media is used very actively to raise awareness and support for carers. The Carers’ forum offers information, news and views and the  online chat room is open 24 hours a day. Chill4usCarers organises Computers4carers which provides free computers for carers. Twitter @Chill4usCarers

Quite simply what people need are signposts to help them explore what technology products and services are available, both through statutory services or to purchase independently. A critical factor for organisations is ensuring that internal structures and culture are designed to embrace change and foster a willingness to learn new skills and engage with digital technology. The many innovations being supported by funders suggest there is no shortage of ideas for applying digital technology to the challenging problems confronting society including isolation.

We have developed the Care in a Digital Age programme to help public sector bodies explore the potential of the internet and digital technology to join up all of the different innovations which have the potential to transform lives. Do contact me if you would like your local authority or Health and Wellbeing Board to be involved in this exciting initiative.

Meet @markoneinfour he’s running a great social media training event!

 Stu Arnott creator of Mindings and I recently had the privilege of interviewing  Mark Brown for the Disruptive Social Care podcast and this is such a lovely photo I thought I would share it!

Mark is a director of Social Spider a community interest company helping people make change happen. He tweets as @markoneinfour and he has been described as one of the smartest thinkers in the worlds of social media and mental health. Mark edits One in Four, England’s only national mental health and wellbeing magazine written by people who experience mental health difficulties.

Mark is running a training event exploring how to use social media to change the world on the 20th November 2012 – good value and definitely worth attending.

 

 

Introducing the NHS Social Care Portal and PQP

Guest post by Mark Chapman Founder of The BetterCare Guide a site which allows the public to search for care and comment on care providers.  It is the only site of its kind that is open source and covers the UK. Mark runs reallycare CIC a social enterprise on a mission: to promote  transparency, standards and open source software in social care. Mark tweets as @reallycare_mark

The Department of Health (DH) have recently announced something that they currently refer to simply as “the portal” which they see as being the definitive online advice and information site for social care in England.  I have been at a few meetings and conferences where it has been discussed and prepared this short introduction.

It appears that the portal will be part of the NHS Choices site, building on the current social care section.  The advice section will contain an explanation of the care system, with content around  financial planning (long term and crisis), prevention and rehabilitation.  There will also be information about providers.  At this point you may be thinking so why is this worth doing?  What will this site offer that is not already available in whole or in part from a confusingly large (and growing) number of charity, private and not for profit sites? It is estimated that there are now at least 30 care quality rating websites.

The USP is the Provider Quality Profile (PQP).  This will collate information about providers from a variety of sources – Care Quality Commission (CQC), public feedback (which may be collated from other sites), Healthwatch, Skills for Care and the providers themselves.  Skills for Care will provide data about staff turnover and levels of qualification. The providers will have an opportunity to market their services and they will be requested (but not required) to provide metrics about various aspects of their performance.  For instance residential care providers might report on the numbers of falls, and domiciliary care providers on the numbers of missed visits.  Full details are being discussed between the Department of Health and social care bodies. The PQP is seen as a means of informing the public about quality in a meaningful way and consequently improving quality of provision.

However, much of this information will not be available for personal assistants, who are now thought to be in the majority in the social care workforce.

The site will go live in April 2013 and is expected to iterate rapidly through the next year.  The 111 telephone service will offer something approaching equivalent functionality for people the wrong side of the digital divide.

I am not closely involved with this project and if there are inaccuracies and omissions in the information provided please don’t hesitate to comment.