Supporting Independent Living

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Introduction
The need for independent living among people who struggle with daily activities such as walking, eating, washing or driving has necessitated the incorporation of technology into health and social care to enable these people improve their capabilities. There are over 3000 technologies that have been designed to enable these people live productive and fulfilling lives independently. However, when using these technologies, there are several ethical and safety considerations that require to be met. The assistive technologies have been beneficial both to the health and social care organizations and the users. This paper considers two case studies to explore the use of
An example of such a device is the Light writer. Scanning and encoding devices are also used to facilitate communication and promote independent living (Hertfordshire Council, 2014)
Barriers to use of Technology to Support Independent Living
Despite the benefits that are associated with the use of technology in promoting independent living among the users of health and social car services, there exist several barriers that undermine its application (Ripat and Booth, 2005). Cost and funding is one of the barriers to the use of technology. Some health and social service providers are not able to afford the technologies that facilitate independent living (Robitaille, 2010). Some patients who require these products are at times faced with financial constraints that make them unable to pay for the services. In the case study on Sally, the specialists recommends several assistive devices such as eye patch, gardening aid, cooking tools, larger keyboard and also advices that Sally’s car be fitted with left foot accelerator. All these require money and in some cases the patients are not able to afford all the devices required for independent living. Another barrier is the lack of appropriate staff training and support. A number of assistive devices are high tech and require training of staff on their usage as well as maintenance. Lack of this training has been one of the main barriers to the use of