Social workers and ipads

Gavin83 · 11 July 2012 at 11:17PM

I work for a local authority and a number of our staff use an iPad. I think most people here can see the advantages of using technology over a paper based solution but thats not really the discussion. The reason we use iPads is because the staff find them easier to use. Social workers aren't generally the most IT literate staff and Ipads are a more simple setup than a traditional laptop and therefore anything which helps them is a good thing in my opinion. They're also generally smaller than a laptop and therefore easier to slip into a bag and it isn't as obvious as a laptop bag.

gizmo111 · 12 July 2012 at 7:35AM

They may work for some situations but if you are visiting a family and spend the whole visit fiddling with technology then you miss the eye-to-eye contact and body langauage needed to assess a situation as well as reducing your observation skills as your eyes are on the laptop/i-pad not your surroundings.
Very difficult to talk to children whilst you are typing.

esmy · 12 July 2012 at 8:28AM

I'm old fashioned enough to ask families if they mind if I sometimes take written notes whilst we speak.

Some Local Authorities are moving towards mobile working ie no allocated desk or computer or phone, no real work 'base'. This cuts costs but the technology is needed to support this way of working, including the means to access information and records on the move.

I'd be happy with a reliable mobile phone.......

RedBern · 12 July 2012 at 8:55AM

gizmo111 wrote: »

They may work for some situations but if you are visiting a family and spend the whole visit fiddling with technology then you miss the eye-to-eye contact and body langauage needed to assess a situation as well as reducing your observation skills as your eyes are on the laptop/i-pad not your surroundings.
Very difficult to talk to children whilst you are typing.

they're also good tools for youngsters to play with - drawing and colouring in (not with real crayons:eek:) and watching the 'talking tom' app, which allows social workers the opportunity to talk to parents whilst the children are occupied. They're cheaper than laptops, lighter, easier to use, can use dictation on them, and social workers can record visits much more easily. Saves time and money.

Errata · 12 July 2012 at 9:12AM

Presumably social workers don't spend all their time fiddling with a pen and paper, so I can't see why they would want to do that with an iPad.
Indeed, touch typing allows the typist to observe what's going on around them as they don't need to keep their eyes on what they're writing on - something that can't be done with paper and pen.

peachyprice · 12 July 2012 at 9:19AM

gizmo111 wrote: »

They may work for some situations but if you are visiting a family and spend the whole visit fiddling with technology then you miss the eye-to-eye contact and body langauage needed to assess a situation as well as reducing your observation skills as your eyes are on the laptop/i-pad not your surroundings.
Very difficult to talk to children whilst you are typing.

No more difficult than trying to talk to them whilst writing, surely.

If there's a need to record information in situ it makes not a jot of difference whether you're writing that information or 'fiddling with technology' to do so, the distraction from the child is the same.

If there's no need to record information in situ it makes not a jot of difference whether you sit in your car after the meeting and write on a note pad or type up your notes.

rachbc · 12 July 2012 at 9:21AM

I think its a great ideed - anything that cuts down on time having to update records can only be a good thing.

The main reason CAFs don't get taken up where I work is the resitance of staff to all the form filling and paperwork. Plus an ipad is cheaper than a laptop and cna be used with children creatively too wounds like a win win to me

gonzo127 · 12 July 2012 at 10:25AM

the use of technology in these situations is a excellent thing, although tablet or laptop choice is a difficult choice as it will depend on the situation as to which is the most appropriate, as they both have advantages and disadvantages compared to each other.

but properly implimented and having properly programed programs could make a massive difference,

considering form filling, you can have them set up so that if a certain criteria is met it highlights other certain questions which would need to be asked/answered, or the simple fact that if you have missed something it will highlight that question before saving the file so that you can have a complete record, which with paper records its easy to have missing data and so a incomplete account of the situation.

other thoughts are 3g connection, so once a record is filled in and save, the file is transfered back to the 'office' automatically, and could include such things as automatically generating a code which is given to the customer/client/patient/whatever who can then log in and input the code to download a copy of the notes which have just been taken.

also very much think the use of tablets could be an improvment in a hospital environment, instead of the 'silly' clip boards in A&E or at the end of the bed with the patient records, this could be done on tablets with a automatic connection to the patient records on the hospital system, allowing instantanious updating of the records as and when the information is taken, no time delay waiting for someone to type them up, no best guessing when someone can not read the handwritting,

add into this the ability to 'bar code' scan things with the built in camera's and you can improve things such as giving the correct medication and even drug doesage and timings all able to be recorded and flagged on the system.

wow this is getting a bit long gonna stop now

onlyroz · 12 July 2012 at 11:46AM

Sounds like a good idea to me, particularly if the tablet has 3G so that forms can be filled in and submitted all in one step - saves the poor sod having to type out the whole thing again once they get back to the office. Also, a tablet would probably be cheaper than a laptop, and can be carried more easily.

dizziblonde · 12 July 2012 at 12:56PM

Depends - if they can actually use them quickly or not. I mean there's few things more frustrating than sitting there filling in a form with someone who can't type or navigate around their computer screen quickly... in those situations - stick to pen and paper please!

If they were playing Angry Birds in the middle of it all I might have some issues...

Social workers and ipads

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