Project Update: Care Home Digital Inclusion Sessions
As we are now almost 6 months into our Care Home Digital Inclusion project, we wanted to provide everyone with a detailed update of how it is going so far. Since the project started in November, we have worked with 5 different care homes across Leeds, providing digital inclusion sessions to residents in Garforth, Seacroft, Rothwell and Headingley. Although initially met with hesitance, the majority of care home residents have taken a shine to the sessions, and now look forward to our weekly visits! Utilising the iPads purchased with our funding from The National Lottery, we have conducted sessions on a variety of topics, from creative sessions using jigsaw and colouring apps, to nostalgia-fuelled sessions with apps like Google Earth and Family Search. It’s been truly heart-warming and motivational to see the digital skills of so many improve every week, and we really hope our sessions will have a lasting impact on the residents we have worked with.
We’ve learnt that the best way to guarantee engagement and participation from residents is to keep the sessions light-hearted, fun, and catered to their interests and needs. As the people we are working with are cared for full-time, they don’t require support with digital skills like using the NHS App or transport apps, or features like apple maps or messaging. We’ve found that by creating sessions that are based around games, creativity, knowledge and nostalgia, every single resident we have worked with has found a pocket of enjoyment! We’ve found that the majority of residents who take part in the digital sessions possess very little knowledge of what an iPad even is, let alone how to use one, so it’s been really important to keep that in mind when working with them. For example, it’s been vital to remain aware of the language we use within the sessions. The majority of people don’t give a second thought to the terms we have become so accustomed to using when discussing digital products like iPads and tablets, but remaining conscious of the lack of knowledge surrounding what a ‘home button’ is, or what it means to ‘swipe up’ or ‘enter a password’ has been imperative to the success of the project. We’ve found that by physically demonstrating, in a clear and slow-paced manner, exactly how to access and use an iPad, most people have quickly picked it up, and after a few sessions, can independently get into an iPad and find the app they wish to use.
We tend to create a loose structure for each session, so we go into each one with an app in mind to focus on. Sometimes this is a paint-by-numbers app, or a quiz show game, or a classic card game app like Solitaire. As time passes, we’re learning what different care home groups enjoy and trying to cater individual sessions to their interests, as opposed to just assuming that everyone will enjoy the same things. Although we create session plans, we want the residents to have freedom with what they choose to do, so if they would prefer to try something different, or play a game we’ve done in a previous session, they’re more than welcome to. One lady who we’ve been working with for 10 weeks chooses to play connect4 on the iPad every single time, and that is more than okay with us!
As time has gone on, it’s been great to see the confidence of so many residents flourish as they get used to independently using iPads. Having 7 iPads means that all the residents taking part in each session have access to one each. We can really see the impact that a solid hour of iPad usage every week is having, as the fear and anxiety that was originally in place surrounding digital has been massively reduced for a lot of residents. This was one of the original aims of the project, and it has been great to see so many residents now associate joy and excitement with the digital sessions. We’re hoping that our consistent work with care homes will help with the sustainability of the project, as staff members are seeing the importance of the digital sessions, with some even borrowing iPads from the library to continue digital work outside of the sessions!
Overall, it has been a greatly successful project thus far, and we can’t wait to see how the next few months of work will go.