I was born in the 90s. When I was a child, we had cable TV, a landline and a computer with a floppy drive. When the computer was connected to the internet, then the phone could not be used. It was possible to listen to other people’s calls from phones in different rooms. So, privacy of the calls was weak. Then it was possible to call friend’s homes, but usually I had to go out and find where the friends were. Even parents did not always know where the children were. Today, it is easy to follow a child’s movements for example with a smart watch that tells child’s location.
I got my first phone in the fourth grade and my first smartphone when I was in high school. Telephone technology began to develop rapidly, and telephone models were quickly updated to new models. Computers have also developed a lot during my childhood and youth.
In high school, I was one of the first age group who did not have to write assignments clearly by pen in the matriculation examination. Today students do not have to write anything on paper, because all assignments are done on the computer.
DIGITALIZATION IN MY WORK
I work as supervisor for mentally handicapped. In my work, digitalization can be seen as a support for communication. The iPad works as a communication tool that allows the customer to talk about their day, even if it is difficult to produce speech. Digitalization can also be seen in my work in, for example, electronic patient record systems and electronic personnel management. In the work we make the service home’s meal and purchase orders electronically.
Colleagues who have been working for a long time say that patient information was once written by hand for example, in notebooks that were archived. Today the patient information written to the patient record system and the information is stored there in electronic from.
Transition of the wellbeing services county caused change of the patient record system at my workplace. Because of that a large amount of information remained in the old data system. In transition time, it is possible to visit the old system to read information but in the future all old information will be lost.
An electronic calendar was used at my workplace, but after the organizational change, the electronic calendar was banned as a data security risk. Going back to the traditional calendar felt old-fashioned and impractical. Those who previously opposed the electronic calendar the most were now those who most opposed the return to the use of a paper calendar.
In the future, digitalization will increasingly appear in my work as different software. With digitalization, care robots may also become more common, but I don’t think they will displace the work done by humans, especially when working with autistic people.
GDPR
The EU’s general data protection regulation (GDPR) was approved in 2016 and in 2018 it started to be applied. With the Data Protection Regulation, people can manage their personal data even better, and businesses benefit have a level playing field.
After the GDPR came into effect, my work has focused even more on customer data protection. Personnel must complete Navisec’s information security training. Customers data may not be given to outside persons. Customers have the right to read all documents and records written about them. This is why it is important to think about what and how to write about the customer. Customers’ names must not be visible in, for example, the calendar, but room numbers can be used instead of names. Then outsiders cannot connect things and people to each other. When talking about customers with numbers, misunderstandings can arise when employees do not necessarily remember customer numbers. By using names, there could be less misunderstandings.
SELF-EVALUATION
This is my first blog post. In the past, I have read a lot of blogs, but I had never thought of writing a blog myself. I saw writing the blog as a positive experience.
When looking at digitalization, I started to think about how much digitalization has developed during my own life. Digitalization is visible in everyday life and makes life easier in many ways. Digitalization also has its negative sides, such as how much parents post pictures of their children on social media, but can they be sure that the child wants their pictures for the whole world to see?
I watched lecture videos of Big Data, IoT and Cyber Security. With the help of the videos, I learned a lot about the things behind digitalization. Many topics were partially familiar, but my knowledge increased a lot. Before, I didn’t know much about Big data, but with the help of the video I understood what it incorporate.
I commented on these two articles:
Thanks for your text, it was interesting to read.
It’s a shame to hear that digitalization has gone back in time in your work community with a paper calendar. It sounds really strange how much of a security risk an electronic calendar can be and would there be different platforms available for this and could they be used more securely (would not contain any personal data or information to be encrypted)? My work unit uses the Teams calendar. Appointments are made in the calendar for various meetings or expenses, and these entries do not contain personal data. The patient information system has its own appointment calendars for patient appointment bookings, which means that they are also in a more secure system.
Hopefully, in the future, your work community’s attitude towards digitalization will change for the better.
Hello!
Thank you for this post! As someone who has been configuring a social care client record system, it’s always interesting to read about the experiences of people who use patient record systems as a part of their daily work. I’m an occupational therapist, but I haven’t used a patient record system outside of my internships, since I’ve never actually worked as an occupational therapist (and my last internship was years ago).
I, as well as Elina before me, could not NOT see that paper calendar mentioned in your post, and yes, it seems archaic. I do understand that if there’s client/patient data in question, then Teams or other electronic calendars might not be safe enough, considering confidentiality and GDPR, but I really do hope that most electronic patient record systems would have easy-to-use built-in calendars/scheduling, if patient data needs to be used; otherwise it will push people to use paper calendars, and those are definitely not the best thing confidentiality-wise either.
It’s also very interesting to hear about the effects of GDPR; I was still studying when it started to be applied, so I did not have the opportunity to see first-hand the most visible changes that took place then. Even though it makes things somewhat inconvenient for your day-to-day communication about your clients’ business, I’m still really glad to hear that people at your workplace take serious measures to protect client/patient data.
Hoping for that secure electronic calendar for you all, ASAP 🙂
Hi Sanna, it was nice to read your writing. I work also people with special needs and I have seen, how much technology has helped their communication. This electric calendar thing… I work as a teacher at vocational school and yes, we are using electric calendars. I have been using both, electric and paper few years. Last autumn I decide to move only electric calendar. It wasn’t working for me. I felt it’s was difficult i.e. making appointment at the phone when you calendar is in the phone! I need also paper calendar! But electric calendar is very good, when you making appointments with your collegues or I make reservations for the company cars etc. In personal life I use only electric calendar.
You had comprehensively given content to this topic. It was interesting to read how digitalization has developed over time and how it has affected different aspects of our lives. Your own experiences give a good perspective on the effects of technology on society. It is also worth noting how digitalization has affected your work as a counselor for people with intellectual disabilities, especially how it has enabled communication and made specific tasks more efficient. The discussion about GDPR and data protection is relevant and important in today’s world, where data protection is a significant concern. I’m not surprised at all. You write your self-evaluation with a positive attitude towards digitization and its possible benefits. Still, at the same time, you also recognize the negative aspects and the importance of responsible use.
Thank you very much for your text; it was nice to read it.
Your organization made good move to withdraw itself using tenants name in your organizations calendars. I have been wondering, that Teams, Whats app, for example, have found their way to healthcare an organization level daily messaging. Any patient information cannot be passed through these information channels.
You wrote about an interesting thing, that you cannot use patients/or tenants names, but instead you have to use room numbers when you are speaking of the tenants. It seems reasonable,if there are others listening but this raises some concerns. For example if tenant needs medication or has symptoms. How you identify patients?
Hello Sanna, and thanks for your post. It was nice to read.
It’s awful to hear you have to use the traditional calendar nowadays. I have used only the electronic calendar many years and I can’t imagine using anything else. But, I also understand the electronic calendar risks.
It’s a shame, that GDPR enable more misunderstandings for identify patients on your work. Hopefully this will be improved soon.
I was born in the 70s and you can believe that at that moment no one knew where the other was, because there was not even a phone in every house. Or maybe central-Sandra knew 😊
Hi! Really enjoyed reading your article!
Nice to hear that your employer does use a lot of different digital tools.
It would be interesting to hear, why they banned the electronic calendar, sounds a bit weird. In our workplace, we use Microsoft’s digital calendar, so I see it as a bigger issue, if there would be a information security risk with it, as we use a lot of Microsoft’s tools at my workplace.
You wrote that you use digitization and iPads to support communication in your work with people with developmental disabilities. It’s great that nowadays such digital devices make communication easier. It would be interesting to know more about the options that digitalization can offer for communicating with developmental disabled people. I personally think about it from the patients’ point of view and I hope that in the future society will invest in acquiring various personal devices specifically for the needs of people in a weaker position, so that equality and equality are realized.
Hello Sanna! Your personal reflections provide an interesting perspective on the benefits and risks associated with digitalization and the need for individuals to be aware of the potential dangers. Good job 🙂
Hi Sanna! Thanks for the interesting writing. I also so remember how I could listen my siblings phone calls from another phone. It was so exciting and of course secretly. I think it´s very important progress, that parents can reach their children more easily with new technology. It makes life more secure.
Development on technology has been very rapid. There is many benefits in this development, but also risks. Everyone should have right to know how companies use data they have collected. It´s not always open information, individuals don’t know how it will be used and for what purpose.
Hello,
Very interesting to read your thoughts especially how digitization has been used in your work place. It is hard to go back to the traditional calender once you have been using digitization but may be due to security problem it was like that. No sooner this will also be solved.Thank you.
Hi,
I can relate to your feelings about GDPR and the different aspects of it. I also work in health care environment and when GDPR was introduced, many things changed and had to be looked at differently.
Hi!
It was nice to read your thoughts and writes but I´m surprised.
It sounds crazy that old information is disappearing. Why hasn’t integration been done? Was this a money issue? Also, switching to traditional calendars really sounds like a backlog.
I hope this will change.
As for resistance, there is always something new.
Hi Sanna,
Thank you for your text and congratulation of your first blog post 🙂
It was interesting to read how digitalization is part of your job, since we work in so different industry / sector. Also it was pity to read of the setback with the digital calendar switch to traditional, it really seems a step back in time. But I guess it undestandable.
I also remember the times when you just went outside and looked where friends are and your parents did not get in touch with you. Good old days 🙂