IT etc

This is a follow up to my last blog about social media.

IT can be very useful for connecting people, but we have to find ways of getting the unconnected on line. Otherwise we are talking in a self perpetuating bubble, this is also an offline problem. These are who need it the most; isolated, poor and probably rural. Living rurally and not able to travel far, if it was not Twitter, I would find it impossible to speak to others like myself, although as I have said before I cannot voice strong views, like one can one to one, as people take them the wrong way. I do miss having a good blether about the state of the world with other people, as I can and do argue most sides, if only to make me think! Websites are as bad, most posters are personally rude if you disagree with them. Maybe, there should be a private group/page for those of us with dementia so we could discuss such matters politely…

We use Echo a lot in our house, and if not for one problem, people with dementia should be introduced to it at the right time. The one problem is that occasionally it starts speaking, even though “Alexa”, or any like sounding word has been used. This confuses me now, and it will get worse. However, I would much prefer an Alexa in my room within a care home than the TV.

VR is another technology that can be used well, it can bring back memories and allow people to try art etc. I know there is a discussion about taking people to real places to recreate the memories but cost will always come first; I know this firsthand as such outings were stopped for that reason where I worked.

I have mixed feelings about robots doing care; serving food etc sounds alright. Intimate personal care would be difficult for a robot to do properly; the human relationship is not always there when being done by a person (although it should always be!).