We've come a long way in recent years to recognise the role of Assistive Technologies in the realm of care. For relatives, or individuals that we are supporting, it will naturally always be the priority to ensure their safety and wellbeing is considered in every scenario. This priority can become trickier to navigate when considering individuals rights to privacy, and their intention to live as independently as possible. We're recognising that assistive technology has a place amongst this discussion, and with modern society keeping us pretty glued to our devices, we can certainly look to an increased reliability of some 'digital' care strategies.
One element that perhaps doesn't always allow this to gel is where the technological skillset, or general interest, is mismatched with the solutions available. For some, a comprehensive App based support service, for example, could well be the long awaited balancing block that considers safety with independence. If we only proceed in this direction though, how are we considering those that don't have the same access to a device of this kind? Through physical challenges, memory deficit, or general preference to just not really wanting to rely on a phone...
access: technology considers the broadest range of technical solutions, and often the shiniest, most technologically advanced (and consequently expensive) AT solutions are the ones that we hear most about from companies or reps that we work with. We love this too, of course, but the big ticket items will never replace the need for much more streamlined solutions, where the technology laser focuses on a refined outcome for the user; often doing a much better job in the process.
The product that really made me think about this, so much so I chose to write about it, was Buddi. This is a wearable alerting system, offering automatic fall alerts and manual 'panic' alerting to a named contact pool, via a wearable unit. Buddi additionally has a support service, offering the user 24/7 support in the event of an alert.
Wearable alarms of this nature won't be new information to many, but my experience looking into these solutions finds them to sit at either end of a scale of basic 'older' designs, right through to the likes of the Apple Watch, where fall detection is one of thousands of other features. Whilst we may have a few years more exposure to the older designs, they largely haven't had much of an update since first release, resulting in out of date technology and even more out of date design and styling. At the other end, going for a stylish looking Apple Watch with cutting edge technology is a big commitment, both financially but also in time spent learning how it all works - and that's if you have a compatible phone to host it in the first place.
Where Buddi stood out, was consideration that not all of its' users will be smartphone users. And to those that are, relying on it being close by starts to defeat the point in my opinion ... For the user, they don't need to do anything! In vulnerable and scary moments such as falls, there should be no added actions, or tricky systems to navigate. That doesn't make this 'old tech' - quite the opposite. Those supporting the user that have confident access to their smartphones can be immediately alerted to an incident, and on the way to their location quickly with a GPS tag. Integrating the fall detection system to a 24/7 support line provides reassurance and necessary means to arrange support for that person when they need it most.
We love to see innovation, and we always will push for technological advances that are in the interests of everyone. I want to recognise that often 'overlooked' or old fashioned products should not be by-passed in this process. Most of us have felt a general fatigue towards their mobile devices, often wishing we weren't as reliant on them as society sets us up to be, but in a bind we would and more importantly could use it to keep us safe.
Let's keep these solutions at the cutting edge of technology, but without added demand on those users who benefit from them the most. And while we're there, lets refresh some really out of date designs; safety and independence shouldn't be at the trade off of one's expression, and right to discretion.
