industry & reform
No quick fix
Digital transformation of aged care is an ‘ ongoing journey ’.
George Margelis interviewed by Eleanor Campbell
Digital innovation has been at the forefront of discussions around aged care reform and planning for the future ageing population . But Dr George Margelis , the chairman of the Aged Care Industry and Technology Council , is warning against innovating too fast .
He says that without proper training and co-design with residents and staff , implementing technology and time limits on digital changes will only exacerbate inadequate care .
Margelis joined Aged Care Insite to unpack the barriers to digital transformation , care technology in the age of COVID-19 and the rewards of innovation for our ageing population .
ACI : Where do you think we are currently in terms of technological maturity in the sector ? GM : The sector has been improving its technological maturity over the years . But it ’ s progressed in fits and spurts . It hasn ’ t progressed linearly . What we ’ ve seen is a heterogeneous progression . So we ’ ve got some great places with some great technology and we ’ ve got some other places with no technology , and trying to level everything up has been the challenge .
What are some of the most significant barriers facing providers when
implementing new technologies and data systems ? Resources remain a challenge . We are a very resource-restrained industry . Ninetyper-cent of our costs tend to relate to staff costs , and if anything , most organisations are understaffed or underpaying their staff . So there ’ s a real pressure to just manage financial resources .
Education and having an industry which understands the value of technology and has the skills to properly implement it , test it , evaluate it , and improve on it I think is one of the shortcomings . The industry needs to be better educated about the role of technology because implementing technology without having a workforce who knows how to use it , and not getting feedback from that workforce on how to improve on it , is a challenge .
You have to put that in the context that the aged care industry is facing a huge number of challenges . Even though all the intentions are there , just the capability at the moment is really challenged . And then you add COVID , which basically adds a whole new level of complexity .
But I think there ’ s an understanding of the need to better use technology . There ’ s a drive to develop better technology . There ’ s a real drive to get the workforce educated , but it ’ s one of a thousand competing interests .
What are some of the biggest risks associated with implementing technology too fast ? I ’ ve worked in healthcare for almost 40 years and been
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It really is a matter of taking the workforce along with us .
actively involved early on with some of the implementations in acute care . When you implement the technology without a proper implementation and training plan you start seeing pushback by the users because they ’ re finding that it ’ s threatening their way of life , their way of working – it ’ s adding extra time pressures onto their activities without an associated benefit .
Aged care workers are already under a lot of stress . If you make their job even harder by introducing technology too quickly and without the proper training , you ’ ll get people leaving the industry . And we know we can ’ t afford that . So it really is a matter of taking the workforce along with us and also making sure what we implement has benefit to both the workforce and to the individuals they are providing care for .
What are some basic strategies providers can use to make introducing new technologies easier for workers ? It often comes down to making the tools available for them in a staged way , so they can effectively play with them . You need to provide them with an environment where they can learn by making mistakes without putting people at risk : almost set up sandpittype environments where they can test things out and get an idea of how they work . And that also enables them to feedback on the technology . That active two-way feedback mechanism is really important .
12 agedcareinsite . com . au