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Assisted living technology and services: a learning and development framework

Resource 1

Learning and development

framework for assisted living

technologies (ALT) workshop

To be used in partnership with the lesson

plan/timetable

Learning and development framework for assisted living technologies (ALT) workshop

Use of an image showing a specific product is illustrative only and does not constitute an endorsement of the product or the company who supplied the image.

Outcomes for the workshop

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

▪ understand the importance of ALT to your organisation

▪ describe the broad structure of the ALT learning and

development framework

▪ understand key concepts within the framework, such as

▪ the cycle of ALT delivery

▪ the ALT workforce

▪ role exemplar structure

▪ apply concepts from the framework to your own organisation.

Who is this resource aimed at?

Senior social care managers, HR managers and

specialist staff – anyone with a role that includes

enhancing the skills and knowledge of the

workforce.

Social care staff with an interest in gaining an

insight into the ALT learning and development

framework.

What are assisted living technologies (ALT)? Skills for Care define ALT as including:

telecare - the use of technology, including monitors and sensors, to promote

independent living and support to people in need of care to live longer at home,

in homely environments and in their communities (we will focus on this)

digital participation services - to educate, entertain and stimulate social

interaction to enrich the lives of people in need of social support

wellness services - to encourage people to adopt and maintain a healthy

lifestyle, to prevent or delay the need for support.

The collection of these services is referred to as assisted living services (ALS).Adapted from Lewin et al 2010 Lewin, D, Adshead S, Glennon B et al (2010) Assisted Living Technologies and

Disabled People in 2030. London; Plum Consulting

Examples of ALT

Personal alarms

Fall detectorBed sensor

Flood sensor GPS locatorMedication dispenser

Images provided by Tunstall and Tynetec

Why use ALT?

Benefits for your customers:

greater independence, self-care ability and safety

can benefit people of all ages, with different abilities and disabilities

Benefits for friends, families and carers:

reassurance and support

Benefits for your organisation:

enhances services offered to customers

may reduce face-to-face and/or residential care costs

supports delivery of key agendas (e.g. Common Core Principles for Self-Care;

Think Local, Act Personal).

Drivers for ALT

Demographic

Ageing population

Pressures on social care

workforce

Financial

Public sector austerity

Policy

Caring for our Future

3 Million Lives

Source: Office for National Statistics;

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/population/ageing/older-people

ALT in England

Approximately 1.7 million people benefitting from telecare in England. Examples

from Skills for Care research include:

Sandwell Telecare Service (STAY):

established in 2001, now approx. 2600 users

ranges of services, including pendant alarms,’ Just Checking’, GPS and

telemonitoring

Kent County Council:

1300 ‘mainstream’ telecare users, approx. 2000 recruits to ‘Whole System

Demonstrator’

supported by cross-sector ALT strategy group

Background to the framework Research carried out by Skills for

Care and the University of Leeds on

ALT workforce development.

Three key recommendations:

organisations need support to

mainstream ALT into care

provision

the care workforce and service

users need on going promotion

of ALT

the workforce needs a range of

ALT training opportunities to

support service provision.

What is the Skills for Care ALT learning

and development framework?A package comprising three key elements:

a step-by-step guide to developing the ALT workforce within

your organisation

a range of resources to support the step-by-step process,

including role exemplars, mapping to existing qualifications

and evaluation methodologies

five learning resources (of which this workshop is one) to

support ALT workforce development.

www.skillsforcare.org.uk/assistedlivingtechnologyresourcehub

Stages of the learning and

development framework

What does the framework do?

• Guides and supports those involved in the commissioning, design or

delivery of workforce development. It does this by:

• posing a set of questions about your organisation (Readiness)

• offering guidance on the identification of work or service flow in

your organisation (Customer flow analysis)

• providing guidance on how to map tasks to the knowledge and

skills needed (Workforce analysis)

• helping you identify tools and resources for learning (Learning

and delivery)

• guiding your evaluation of the impact of learning (Checking).

Helping you assess your organisations:

purpose

values and principles

customers

workforce

leadership in assisted living technology.

Exercise

Think about the following things in relation to your organisation:

do you have agreed language and definitions related to ALT?

what are you trying to achieve by providing ALT to your

customers (what is your business plan)?

what values and principles run through your ALT services?

do you have the infrastructure needed to develop your

services further (e.g. partnership working; governance

arrangements)?

Helping your organisation to:

understand the customer

identify the ALT work or service flow

explore different ways of working

identify key tasks related to ALT.

Customer flow analysis stage•Customer flow analysis stage

•Customer flow analysis stage•Customer flow analysis stageis stage

The cycle of ALT delivery

Exercise

Think about these key questions related to your ALT services:

who are your main customers for ALT?

how do customers get to know about ALT that is available to

them?

is ALT considered during customer assessments?

what are your processes for referral, installation, monitoring

and response?

do you have clear processes for removal and decontamination

of ALT?

Helping you to:

understand information about your workforce (e.g. National Minimum

Dataset for Social Care)

develop role exemplars relevant to your workforce (the framework also

includes some pre-written exemplars to use as templates)

identify the standards, frameworks and qualifications linked to role

exemplars

recognise gaps in the ALT skills and knowledge of your workforce

produce organisational and individual learning and development plans.

Workforce analysis stage

Your workforce and ALT

Exercise

Think about your workforce and colleagues:

can you identify which staff fit within each layer of the

ALT workforce?

what types of tasks are associated with each layer?

identify a key task: what skills and knowledge are

associated with it?

is there any learning and development associated with

this task?

Elements of a role exemplar

A range of detailed role exemplars are available within the framework itself to act as templates for your

organisation. These include details of the specific knowledge and skills required for each role.

Identifying learning and development needs

Role

exemplars

Skills and

knowledge

audit

Training gap

analysis

Learning

and

development

plan

Helping you to:

agree ALT learning priorities and outcomes

identify how to get best value for money

explore learning and development funding

opportunities

consider delivery methods.

Exercise Think about the structure of your ALT workforce:

ALT specialists

social care staff whose role includes some degree of ALT

involvement

staff within social care who have little to do with ALT at present

(peripheral contact).

Which ‘layer’ should take priority for learning and development?

Why?

Which learning needs should take priority?

Classification of learning needs

ExerciseCan you think of examples of learning which might fall within each stage of an

individual’s learning pathway?

Examples might include:

Stage 1: Competence in the installation and testing of ALT systems

Stage 2: Recognising how changes in personal circumstances can alter a

user’s ALT requirements

Stage 3: Understanding funding mechanisms for local ALS (for members of

the workforce not directly involved with the ‘inform’ stage)

Stage 4: Demonstrating the ability to share knowledge of ALS with colleagues

in health, housing and social care.

Stage 5: Understanding the quality and findings of the evidence base related

to ALS.

Delivery method types

Available learning resourcesResource 1

Workshop materials to raise organisational understanding of the framework.

Resource 2;

An eLearning resource focussed on assessment of ALT needs.

Resource 3;

An eLearning resource focussed on the use of ALT to support people with

dementia.

Resource 4 (Coming soon!);

A mobile application (available on Android and iOS) providing a simple reference

guide to ALT applications.

Resource 5;

Workshop materials to increase understanding of the role of ALT in supporting

people with dementia.

Resource 2 sample screen

Resource 3 sample screen

Helping you decide on:

models for evaluating learning and development

methods for checking user satisfaction

ways of benchmarking progress with other

organisations

celebrating your success!

Exercise

Within your organisation, how do you

usually evaluate the impact of learning

and development?

Evaluating learning

• Review workforce analysis

• Identify changes in ALT practices

Based upon: Kirkpatrick, D. and Kirkpatrick J.D. (2006). Evaluating Training Programs (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Benchmarking your progress

Final exercise

How does your organisation publicise

achievements, report findings and

celebrate success?

What methods would best fit with

learning and development in ALT?

Further information

The full learning and development framework can be accessed on the

Skills for Care website at

www.skillsforcare.org.uk/assistedlivingtechnology

ALT learning and development resources can be found at

www.skillsforcare.org.uk/assistedlivingtechnologyresourcehub

Other sites worthy of exploration are;

www.hftsmarthouse.org.uk

http://dementia.stir.ac.uk/virtualhome

http://www.livingmadeeasy.org.uk/telecare%20and%20alarms/

www.skillsforcare.org.uk