Dementia Technology Within Public Authorities

Public authorities should consider the needs of people with dementia when making technology-related decisions, a report claims.

10:21 14 July 2019

MPs and peers in the all-party parliamentary group on dementia have released a report asserting that public authorities should take the needs of people with dementia into consideration when making decisions about the use of technology.

 

 

 

The report, entitled Hidden No More: Dementia and Disability, advises the technology industry to remove obstacles, such as passwords and sequences, to people with dementia.

 

 

 

Helen Milner, chief executive of leading digital inclusion charity The Good Things Foundation, says existing laws must also be revised to better serve people with disabilities.

 

 

 

She said: “There are laws that are very easily understood, for example around physical access to buildings. Updating them to make it illegal to have virtual apps or services that are not accessible would be the right thing to do.”

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the Alzheimer’s Society’s head of research development and evaluation, Colin Capper, said that health and social care staff must also be trained in digital products that support people with dementia.

 

 

 

“The government has a role in ensuring the likes of Health Education England are thinking about the competence of their workforce in the use of digital technology; an important theme in the NHS Long Term Plan, he says.

 

 

 

“Local authorities must have the opportunity to educate their staff about the technologies that are on the market. In addition to the assessment process and review of care of people with dementia, we must put people in touch with available technologies and ensure they can be supported to access them.”