Use of information and communication technology in nursing services.

Technology provides nurses with a new set of tools to enable and improve the nurse-patient relationship. Although not all information and communication technology is 100% accurate, it still provides the ability for readings which can be used to support the management of long-term conditions in the community. Additionally, technology can empower the patient, enabling them to take control over their condition and enable the nurses who support them. It can break down barriers, such as language and distance. However, it is not without its drawbacks. This paper considers the advantages and disadvantages of community nurses using technology.

The use of patient management systems in the community.

The role of community nursing services is changing and the ability to adapt to the new roles and challenges using technology is becoming increasingly important. This article considers the positive role that using patient management systems and care registers can play in improving and developing new work patterns through the use of online, shared working practices.-

Designing assisted living technologies 'in the wild': preliminary experiences with cultural probe methodology.

BACKGROUND: There is growing interest in assisted living technologies to support independence at home. Such technologies should ideally be designed 'in the wild' i.e. taking account of how real people live in real homes and communities. The ATHENE (Assistive Technologies for Healthy Living in Elders: Needs Assessment by Ethnography) project seeks to illuminate the living needs of older people and facilitate the co-production with older people of technologies and services. This paper describes the development of a cultural probe tool produced as part of the ATHENE project and how it was used to support home visit interviews with elders with a range of ethnic and social backgrounds, family circumstances, health conditions and assisted living needs. METHOD: Thirty one people aged 60 to 98 were visited in their homes on three occasions. Following an initial interview, participants were given a set of cultural probe materials, including a digital camera and the 'Home and Life Scrapbook' to complete in their own time for one week. Activities within the Home and Life Scrapbook included maps (indicating their relationships to people, places and objects), lists (e.g. likes, dislikes, things they were concerned about, things they were comfortable with), wishes (things they wanted to change or improve), body outline (indicating symptoms or impairments), home plan (room layouts of their homes to indicate spaces and objects used) and a diary. After one week, the researcher and participant reviewed any digital photos taken and the content of the Home and Life Scrapbook as part of the home visit interview. FINDINGS: The cultural probe facilitated collection of visual, narrative and material data by older people, and appeared to generate high levels of engagement from some participants. However, others used the probe minimally or not at all for various reasons including limited literacy, physical problems (e.g. holding a pen), lack of time or energy, limited emotional or psychological resources, life events, and acute illness. Discussions between researchers and participants about the materials collected (and sometimes about what had prevented them completing the tasks) helped elicit further information relevant to assisted living technology design. The probe materials were particularly helpful when having conversations with non-English speaking participants through an interpreter. CONCLUSIONS: Cultural probe methods can help build a rich picture of the lives and experiences of older people to facilitate the co-production of assisted living technologies. But their application may be constrained by the participant's physical, mental and emotional capacity. They are most effective when used as a tool to facilitate communication and development of a deeper understanding of older people's needs.

Smart home technology for safety and functional independence: the UK experience.

This paper proposes that people with neurological conditions can be successfully supported by smart homes only when their needs and aspirations of the technological interventions are fully understood and integrated in the design. A neurological condition can and does provide a clue to the finished technological design but this alone fails to personalise the system and stands to be rejected by the person who requires the technology. This paper explores the underlying issues of the complexity of this design process when designing for people with neurological conditions, and advances a matrix to facilitate the assessment process to maintain a person-centred design of any system.

Nursing and information and communication technology (ICT): a discussion of trends and future directions.

This paper traces the development of information and communication (ICT) within health care and the emergence of telehealth as a key component of modern health care delivery as health care moves from the 'face to face age' to the 'information age'. The paper examines the interface of ICT and nursing practice and highlights the limited evidence relating to the nursing contribution within telehealth particularly beyond data input and output analysis for other health care personnel. Additionally, the absence of research relating to the impact of ICT upon nurses and their working lives is identified. The paper concludes that nurses need to engage more fully with ICT so that they contribute to shaping the care system and emerge as leaders of the new care systems delivering future clinical activity.