Presentation given to National Care Forum 28 October 2013.

1. Connecting Care
Making The Most Of Technology
Miles Maier – Project Manager
Paul Webster – Community Builder & Technology Consultant

2. About Lasa
“Lasa helps thousands of third sector and government
organisations across the UK to deliver efficient, high quality
services. We are a charity which offers knowledge, support
and resources.”
25+ years in the charity sector
• Technology leadership, publications, events and
consultancy
• www.lasa.org.uk/ict
Welfare Rights
• Advising advice workers
• www.rightsnet.org.uk

3. About you
•
•
•
•
Type of Organisations
Do you use IT or Digital Technology?
Does your organisation have an IT plan?
Do your staff … and also your beneficiaries
use technology?
• Your biggest IT grumble!
Q. What do you want to learn from
today's session?

4. What is Connecting Care?
• Background to the project
• Why it is needed for small providers in the sector
• How we are delivering the project – the Process...

5. The process
•
Register your interest, upto 20 orgs per year
•
ICT self-assessment
•
Action plan
•
Link to professional IT Volunteers
•
Provide resources, email & phone guidance
•
2nd visit to follow up on progress
•
Future ideas for Year 2 & 3
• Training – on-line & workshops
• Events – or local support networks
• Community – on-line peer support

6. Who are we working with
at the moment?
• Small independent providers of care in the VCS
• 15 so far in 2013/14……5 more planned
• Day care centres, independent living centres, care
homes, care agencies
• Covering all of England, most in the North

7. The Scary
Parts…

8. The Scary Part
• Large organisation not backing up data
• ‘Networking' files via a USB stick
• Reception PC shared by two organisations
• No budget for strategic IT
• Paper based care records
• Importance of ICT not recognised by Trustees
• Poor service by ICT Suppliers
• No ICT Support plan in place
• Emails printed for CEO with no PC

9. The Good
Parts...

10. The Good Parts
• Dedication by volunteers
• Activities Co-ordinator using Skype and Youtube
• Many homes with Wi-Fi
• Potential of tablet devices
• Potential of online to offer significant cost & time savings
• IT Training suites & eager learners
• Facebook to tell good news stories

11. Technology concerns?
• Where to start
• Knowledge
• Confidence / Fear
• Capacity / Resources
• Access
• Time
• Cost
• Scepticism
• Any more?

12. Exclusion Barriers
• 18% of Adults have never been online
• Accessibility - hardware, software, websites
• Skills – lack of online skills – build confidence
•
(29% UK Online Learners have disability)
• Cost – of equipment and connections
• Knowledge – jargon that puts people off
• Connection – rural broadband
• Help - AbilityNet, Online Basics

13. ICT on a ‘shoe-string’
• ICT planning
• Social Media
• Hand Held Devices

14. Is your social media stuck in 1992?
Or...

16. Have a social media plan
• Know your objectives and what you want to say
•Come and see the work our project has been doing!
• Research where your audience are – do you know?
•Survey and find out, work in spaces where your target audience are
• Plan how to use the tools – have a strategy
•An opening event?, e-bulletin update? Do ‘as well as’ what you do
• Choose tool to match audience and implement
•Look at what other organisations have done, what works elsewhere?
• Sustain the conversation and say thank you
•Encourage people to return, keep it new, links from websites
•Engage with people on line, be receptive, respond, react

17. First steps…..
• Have a web presence – it's the first place people look for
your organisation
• Planning what you want to do with technology
• Taking everyone in organisation along with you
• Finding funding (or free solutions) for it
• Supporting and Sustaining – online support communities
and resource banks
• Use free tools

18. Website building tools
PAID
• Ning: www.ning.com (from £60/year)
• SquareSpace: www.squarespace.com (from £5 to £15
monthly)
• Jam: http://onesite.madewithjam.org (£48/year)
FREE
• Google Sites: http://googlesites.org.uk
• WordPress: www.wordpress.org
• Drupal: https://drupal.org/

19. Tablet and mobile devices
• Tablet PCs becoming affordable – starting from £49, even
supermarket own brands.
• 12.2 million people own one, including around 1m of those
over 55 (Ofcom 2012)
• 30% of all UK web traffic from phone or tablet (ComScore – Dec 2012)
• 82% of all UK mobile phone sales are smart phones and 71%
of phones purchased by over 55's in Dec 2012 smartphones
• 19% of smartphone users aged over 55 (6.1 million people)

20. Why use tablets & smart
phones
• Light, quick and easy to start using
• 'The Internet’ in your hand
• Easily personalised screens
• A more social shared way to to view the web
• 59% use to check social networks, 49% for on line
shopping, 36% on line banking. 75% of people get
news first on line.
• Have you viewed your website on a tablet?

21. Using tablets/smart
phones in care
For staff and the organisation
• A portable way to access care plans & record case notes
• As a mobile office reducing time, travel & paperwork
• See http://apps.nhs.uk/ & http://www.iautism.info/en
For residents and service users
• BIG Launcher
• 'Memory Trainer' & 'Brainy App‘ help with
Alzheimer's and Dementia
• Activities – Youtube, Flickr, Streetview for reminiscence
• Keep in touch – Skype & Google Hangouts
• Skills – Choiceboard Creator, Life Skills Winner
• Games – Pocket Pond, Talking Tom Cat

22. Finding the right tool for the task
http://nptechuk.wordpress.com/sms-links/
From Flickr – Claire Sutton and justinbaeder

23. Key questions
• How do I decide what tools I need?
• How do I decide what tools are right for me?
• What online communications tools do you use?
• Do you think you are getting the most out of them?

24. Resources

25. Our top 5 free and easy
1 Doodle – plan meetings
2 Mailchimp – newsletters
3 MyComputer MyWay – guides & advice
4 Technology Trust – donations
5 Hootsuite – manage multiple Facebook &
Twitter accounts

26. Our Top 5 not-for-profit
tech websites
1 ICT Knowledgebase – 500 articles about making
most of technology in a small org
2 Community How To – covers main digital websites
with reviews & intro guides
3 KnowHow NonProfit – marketing & comms guides
for small charities that you can edit
4 SCIE – wide range of free e-learning courses
covering health & social care topics
5 Digital Unite – guides you can print to help get
started with tech

27. Technology ideas for work with older people ...
• My Home Helper: https://www.myhomehelper.co.uk
• assists with daily routines for individuals living with memory
loss
• Skype Bingo
• Berneslai Homes linked sheltered schemes to play Bingo over
Skype with webcams & large screens
• Eldy: http://www.eldy.eu/
http://www.welcometoalex.com/
• Turns any standard PC into an easy-to-use computer for
people that have never used a computer before
• Internet Buttons: http://www.internetbuttons.org/
• Removes complicated bits of the web to give easy access to
places you need

28. Technology for older people...
• A well lived life in older age is being Healthy and Happy,
Independent but not Isolated. Connected technology can help
• Telecare technology – 'safe independence'.
• “Using the Internet should be fun, not a chore” (Age UK 'ITea
and Biscuits' sessions)
• It's about sharing conversations with people near and far Intergenerational

29. The future…..?
29

30. Technology trends…
• Sales of tablets and smart-phones outstripping
desktop PCs and laptops
• Digital transactions, not face to face
• Virtual money (BitCoins)
• Affordable 3D printing of every day objects
• Wearable tech (RFIDs)
• Augmented reality (Google Glass)
• AI and The Internet Of Things
• Speech to text apps

31. Next steps?
• Start small – what one could you try out
today?
• Strategic IT planning
• Involve everyone.
• Apply to Marketing, Fundraising &
Communications
• Keep it relevant and human
• Implement, monitor and adjust – and
remember it takes time

32. Lasa tech stuff….
Free lasa website tools:
• www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk
• www.suppliersdirectory.org.uk
Free lasa publications:
• Computanews bi-monthly technology newsletter
• http://storify.com/lasaict
Free technology events
• A series of flagship events on topical technology issues for
the third sector. TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON

33. Any questions?
We can all be a Digital Champion or Social Media
Surgeon for an older person in our community.
We are looking for organisations to take part in 2014.
Contact us or sign up if interested
www.surveymonkey.com/s/ccsignup

34. Thank You
Miles Maier – Project Manager
mmaier@lasa.org.uk 020 7426 4496
Paul Webster – Community Builder & Technology Consultant
pwebster@lasa.org.uk 020 7426 4498