Social workers and ipads

gizmo111

peachyprice wrote: »

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.

Very little of my home visits get recorded on visits with pen and paper - most of it is conversation and taking the odd phone number etc and then pulling all the info not just from one visit but many other factors are taken into account to fill in a form based assessment. I certainly couldn't do a full analysis on a laptop or i-pod at a family home.
It may have its uses in some areas but I don't think letting children have access to a local authority database so their parents can chat is prudent to confidentiality.

Proc

The problem is most people take a simplistic approach to understanding the benefits of technology.

The common argument is that an iPad is £500, whereas a pen and paper are under £2 so you would need to buy hundreds of pens and paper over a period of years in order for the iPad to be beneficial.

Such a simplistic viewpoint isn't really beneficial. The real question is "how much time does the iPad save a person every day?". If it only saves 15 minutes of writing/transcribing on a daily basis then you'll soon find that it pays for itself within a few months.

This is precisely why many good businesses don't involve their accountants with key company decisions; they obstruct innovation with simple bottom-line calculations.

jgh

My only thought would be only the lines of "pah! you've never bothered leaning to type???". But then, when I was a councillor I made all my notes in a "policeman-style" notebook ... though I did find I could keep face-to-face contact with the person I was talking to while writing which I wouldn't be able to while typing, and I certainly couldn't take notes standing up.

FATBALLZ

Sounds like a fairly typical case of a department needing to use up its end of year budget in a spending spree to ensure they get the same amount of money next year . Why kit out your staff with laptops when you can buy iPads for twice the cost with half the functionality?

puddy

i have a problem even conceiving of this hypothetical scenario being that i have to buy my own note pads, let alone get given any lap tops or ipads.

JC9297

Another advantage of iPads over laptops is battery life.

Armchair23

OK I'm just about to start seeking out help for my aged Mum. She finds it hard enough to engage with the outside world as it is, if she has do it with someone who doesn't look at her and have a conversation, but someone intent on using a tablet to tick boxes I give up now.
It's a tool not a magic bullet for curing all ills.

barbarawright

Armchair23 wrote: »

OK I'm just about to start seeking out help for my aged Mum. She finds it hard enough to engage with the outside world as it is, if she has do it with someone who doesn't look at her and have a conversation, but someone intent on using a tablet to tick boxes I give up now.
It's a tool not a magic bullet for curing all ills.

But she'd be fine with someone looking at a notebook who then had to ring the office to check a phone number?

marywooyeah

is the hypothetical issue because it's an ipad or because it's a tablet? my guess is the former and the issue is the high cost and "showiness" of an ipad.

personally I think a cost effective tablet would be a good idea - if it allows them to record the necessary information quickly and accurately - eg if you have to write things down quickly it can become illegible which with CAF assessments or the like can cause important points to be missed out and it just shouldn't happen with such important documents.

gizmo111

marywooyeah wrote: »

is the hypothetical issue because it's an ipad or because it's a tablet? my guess is the former and the issue is the high cost and "showiness" of an ipad.

personally I think a cost effective tablet would be a good idea - if it allows them to record the necessary information quickly and accurately - eg if you have to write things down quickly it can become illegible which with CAF assessments or the like can cause important points to be missed out and it just shouldn't happen with such important documents.

CAF assessments are done in a totally different way to child protection visits and reacting to crisis sitautions that are followed up with an in depth assessment such as a core assessment. Very often decisions cannot be made on the spot as discussion with a manager is needed. Putting factual details would be Ok but when an in depth assessment is needed then an ipad or tablet is just not a practical way to gather info on the move.