Information Technology and Ethical Issue

This first posting will cover information technology and ethical issues when looked at in relation to Occupational Therapy. For those for you wondering what Occupational Therapy is as described in Wilding (2010, p. 11) "Occupational Therapy is about enabling people to engage in a range of occupations and building peoples capacity and ability to perform occupations".

Information Technology is defined by Allen (2004) as "The use of computers, telecommunications in electronic processing, storing, retrieving and sending information". Howe (2010) states that information communications technology, also known as, ICT consists of IT as well as telecommunications, broadcast, media, all types of audio and video processing and transmission and network based control and monitoring functions.

My interpretation of this, is that, technology has become a more common way to communicate, learn and teach, and will continue to do so in the future. We as human beings are faced on a daily basis with the growing demand and need for technology. Technology has become part of our everyday lives, making skills in these areas a major necessity for the majority of our society. I believe that this world in 50 years time will be a much different world than the one we live in today due to the  continual development of new and exciting technological ideas.

Information Technology is defined by Allen (2004) as the use of computers, telecommunications in electronic processing, storing, retrieving and sending information.

This form of technology is widespread throughout our society. Computers for example are used on a daily basis. In 2007 it was identified by statistics New Zealand that One-fifth of all households had more than one type of computer (desktop, laptop or hand-held). Barnodos in 2012 states that statistics show that 98% of schools and 37% of homes in New Zealand have at least one computer, while the percentage of children and young people with their own mobile phone is steadily increasing. These statistic show that technology has become more common over the years and will continue  to do so with the change in generation coming and ever changing population.

Watch the clip below to see how fast technology is really growning.

 

I am relatively comfortable and confident in using most technologies. I have adapted to using a cell phone and a laptop computer on a daily basis. I am able to use the internet to Skype family on the other side of the world with just the click of a mouse. In my previous employment I sent emails on a regular basis along with learning a new database system to hold client notes and input new data, once saved this information was available to anyone in the country who was allowed access to this database.  I am comfortable with using the above examples as it has just become part of my daily life. As a student now, technology provides a great free way to communicate with others where and when convenient to myself. Limitations that I may be required to overcome include that of money and the cost of upgrading technology equipment and resources.

My interpretation of technology will no doubt grow over the duration of this paper and its content.

I use Information Technology to engage in daily purposeful occupations such as communicating, reading, typing, researching and completing requirements set by the University.

An experience that comes to mind when thinking about Information Technology and Occupational Therapy was when a game of Wii was used in a paediatric setting to assess the gross motor skills of 2 young boys both aged 6.

The first test here was for the two boys to overcome the sharing of the device. Once this was sorted, they were to choose a game that they wished to play, either tennis or bowling. It was agreed that they would have a game of bowls. After choosing the correct ball size and weight for their age, the first boy began to bowl. First we looked at balance ability on the Wii board and which was the dominant foot/side of the body. We were then observing for a variety of different things including strength in upper and lower arms, ability to follow the instructions set by the game, ability to remember and recognised that this was a game to be shared between two players and the need to alternate turns. This game lasted around 25 minutes, a little longer than usual but this was expected as there was some explanation that had to go on between the therapist and the client when the boys didn’t alternate turns etc.

This was a relatively straight forward task set for these two boys as it was discovered both had this game at home so were aware of the nature of it. I feel that things many have been different if they had not been familiar with it.

Other issues that may have arisen could have been power outage, no power points in reach, children not willing to participate, in sufficient time to complete the activity if one was to take longer to complete the activity.  

 

There are few ethical implications that arise when sharing information via information technology devices or systems. These problems concern the major issue of confidentiality with concerns to the client and the health professional’s personal information within a professional setting. Information can be shared by the click of a mouse between computers. Cell phones these days have reasonably clear cameras and can capture images from a distance. Information can be sort out over the internet via social networking sites, this has become a lot easier to do and needs to be kept in mind when using/sharing information via IT devices.

References

Allen, R. (consultant editor).  (2004). The penguin English dictionary: London: Penguin Books

Barnardos. (2012.). Parenting in the digital age. Retrieved from http://www.barnardos.org.nz/Family-Advice/Parenting-in-the-digital-age/Parenting-in-the-digital-age-introduction.htm.

Howe, D. (2010) Information and Communication Technology. Retrieved from http://foldoc.org/Information+and+Communication+Technology

Statistic New Zealand. (2007.)   Household Economic Survey. Retrieved from http://www.stats.govt.nz/searchresults.aspx?q=computers%20owned%20by%20new%20zealanders

Wilding, C. (2010). Defining Occupational Therapy. In M. Curtin, M. Molineux, J. Supky-Mellson (Eds.), Occupational Therapy NS Physical Dysfunction Enabling Occupation (pp. 3-15). Italy : Printer Trento.