Tutorial One: Information Technology & Ethical Issues

The Participation in Occupation course encourages us as students to explore human occupation by utilizing digital tools and technologies available. 
The World Book Encyclopaedia (2011) indicates that information technology is using computers and the different ways the computers can be used to handle data/information. We are in the age of technology. People rely on knowing things in an instant and its normally a computer or a computer driven system that can supply and handle the information that we seek and the speed that we seek it in.This has helped to secure the prevalence of computers in our society.
Just about everything these days in our society relies on computers in some capacity, they are common place. From driving your car (if its modern enough) many of the operating systems are controlled by computers such as fuel and engine management systems, to watching television - where if you miss a programme that you enjoy (and you havent recorded it on your dvd recorder (yes another computerised device), you can go online and watch many of the televison programmes. Hungry? Order your groceries online and have them delivered to your door. Or order your pizza or cofffee and have it sitting there waiting for you to pickup at the end of the working day.
Children in some schools are utilizing the Ipad as a classroom learning necessity - and these children are still in primary school. In Polytechnics and Universities it is expected that students have some form of computer knowledge and have access to broadband internet.
You can read any newspaper in the world online, find and listen to nearly any song you want, download it and pay for it online. Oh and speaking of paying for things...a person can pay their bills online - from insurance to car registration, electricitity and everything inbetween. This link has real interesting facts and figures surrounding information technology.

 http://youtu.be/6ILQrUrEWe8

There are even more advancements that people will dream of for information technology in the future - this link provides what life could be like.
 http://youtu.be/rsnh3PGDdsU
I feel comfortable utilizing some aspects of IT, such as my laptop computer and cell phone.
I use I.T. to pursue my occupation of studying towards my degree as lots of course information and course work is online, Utube is a good resourse if you don't understand how something works, and Google.
In my fieldwork placements that I have experienced so far there hasnt been alot of I.T used for clients. The staff tend to use it more, for typing up notes and discharge summaries, and emailing orders or notes.
There is many ways that I.T could be used in enabling occupation for people. The following are some interesting links demonstrating this.
 http://youtu.be/ENkjkIypXq4
 http://youtu.be/6ivKFo8BoRI
http://youtu.be/48TFYpZQJpM
Petty (2003) believes technology can be used within occupational therapy practise in two ways:
1. Improve a person's functional independance.
2. As a tool to improve occupational performance and related areas.
There are some issues that exist around occupational therapists adoption of IT systems and tools, so the therapist has to be careful about what technology they are going to offer and to which client they will offer the different applications to as it may do more harm than good in certain instances e.g. clients that may become addicted to some aspects - such as gaming or online gambling or depending on the person that the technology is for, it doesnt encourage the person to go outside and try new things, it just makes them reliant on their computer and sitting in front of it all day. If a client is not computer savvy it may make using the technology approach more difficult for them as opposed to other ways.
A great understanding of technology will help us in our practice and our daily lives if our goal is to enable occupation because it provides information quicker, provides a wealth of experiences and cultural information. Technology is a huge part of todays environment for many people both at home and in the workplace. It is important for therapists to emabrace technology and make use of the many benefits that it can offer them and their client.
There are ethical issues that need considering when capturing, sharing and transferring information via I.T. devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers or I.T. systems like the internet. Such things as computer virusus, computer hacking, access to personal photos that could be used by the wrong people and copyright issues.
Some websites amy promote what the therapist is trying to discourage, so the client/person has even greater access to look up things that may be of no benefit to them whatsoever. E.g. Pro-annorexia websites, that may encourage the person to loose more weight, or young people looking up adult material by mistake.
There are certain ways these sites can be screened and blocked, but there is so much information out there that there, that chances are something will make it round the sreening phase.
With online banking or shopping, if a person isnt careful with their details and where they go to shop online it makes them an easy target for hackers, to access their personal information and bank account numbers. Many good sites have extra security for online shoppers that use their service, banks put many security screenings on online banking, and some will alert you if any weird or unusual transactions come up.
There are risks to everything that you do. Using technology is no exception, but there are ways to minimize the risks in order to make it safer and enjoyable to use.



REFERENCES

Petty I. (2003). Expanding environments through technology. In: L. Letts, P. Rigby, D. Stewart, eds. Using    environments to enable occupational performance. Thorofare, NJ: Slack.

The World Book Encyclopaedia (2011). 1Volume 10. (1.10). Ohio, United States of America. R.R. Donnelley Willard.