Information Technology and Ethical Issues.

Humans have been using technology for a long time and it is forever improving over the years. Although there are often problems that arise with technology, there are many benefits of information technology to occupational therapy clients now days, therefore “occupational therapists can, and should, capitalise on the opportunities offered by mainstream technology and, while not exhaustive, it focusses on some therapeutic applications” (Verdonck and Ryan, 2008). 
In my first posting I will describe the definition of information technology and further discuss how this relates to our society and occupational therapy practice.


Information communications technology (ICT) “refers to technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications. It is similar to Information technology (IT), but focusses primarily on communication technologies. This includes the internet, wireless networks, cell phones and other communication mediums” (TechTerms.com, 2010). To me, this illustrates that ICT enables us to produce, develop and store information through technology. It is also another means of communicating with others through technology whether it is blogging, through Skype or texting.

Information and communications technology is growing fast and is very popular within our society. Firstly, cell phones. Approximately 20 years ago, it wasn’t very common to own a cell phone and even if you did come across someone that did own one, they would only use it to call others, as texting wasn’t available until the early to mid 90’s. Texting is still very common but it seems as though we are getting lazier as the years go by. With all of these new cell phones that are becoming available to us such as Apple iPhones and the Samsung Galaxy, the technology is upgrading too. Two of the more recent applications that have become available to us are ‘Swype’ text and ‘Voice to text’. Below is a video clip of what ‘Voice to text’ is and how it works.

ICT is not only a part of our everyday lives, but also among many celebrities’ and famous people all over the world. One person that has been recently announced to many of us is Joseph Kony. He has been abducting children to turn them into child sex slaves and soldiers since 1986 and the campaign wants to make him known to the world and eventually have him arrested. A short film was made and released on 5^th March this year and by 30^th March, the video had over 86 million views. This video was also posted onto facebook so potentially; all Facebook users would watch the video as well. This illustrates how much technology catches our attention and how it influences many people’s day to day lives. A link to the short film is below:

Other celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Esmee Denters have made themselves known to the world by posting videos on YouTube and being lucky enough to be found and signed by large records. It just goes to show what IT can really do to you, whether it is getting a few comments and views on a silly video of you and your friends, or becoming one of the biggest pop stars at present. Below is a link to Bieber’s video which caught a lot of attention several years back:

 I am fairly confident in using information technology but I must say that I wouldn't be the person to call in a technology crisis. I don’t own all the latest gadgets but I find myself using IT almost every day, particularly my laptop and cell phone. I use my laptop for searching information on the internet, completing work for my course on Moodle and keeping in contact with my friends and family over Facebook and Skype. Also, I generally use my cell phone to contact others and occasionally some photography. I therefore use IT to engage in many purposeful occupations including leisure, studying and socialising. Having all of these new technologies being available to us now, it definitely expands my use of IT because I’m always curious as to what it does and if it’s any better than what I’m currently using e.g. an iPhone or iPad. If IT wasn't part of my life at present I would find it very difficult and frustrating to engage in meaningful occupations.

In my fieldwork one placement, IT was used widely throughout the hospital for various reasons. One of the main uses for IT being used by occupational therapists was keeping a record of the clients’ notes and both sharing and accessing information from other health professionals. There could potentially be some major issues around the use of IT for purposes such as this as the clients’ information and notes could perhaps vanish in an instant if there were any technical difficulties that occurred with the computers.

“Technology can be used in occupational therapy in two ways. The first application is to improve a person’s functional independence, and the second is as a therapeutic tool to improve occupational performance and its related components (Petty, 2003 as cited in Verdonck and Ryan, 2008). Occupational therapists use IT as a tool of practice at present so I can only imagine that as technology improves, the use of it will become more common. Below is a video that demonstrates the use of technology as a tool of practice in occupational therapy:

A great understanding and use of IT will help us practicing occupational therapists in the future because we will be dealing with clients of various functional abilities. Us as Occupational therapists in the future need to move with the time and keep up to date with any improvements in technologies because it will be our ability to select a particular technology that best meets the client’s therapeutic needs.

There are always ethical implications that arise from capturing, sharing and transferring of information and images through devices such as cell phones and the internet. A couple of these are copyright and informed consent. Although systems such as the internet provides us with a wide variety of information and images, it is important to get the authors consent and reference the particular item rather than portraying that the item is yours. Likewise, it is also important to gain informed consent from the person involved before capturing, sharing and transferring the information/image for others to view.

References:

ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) Definition. (n.d.). The Tech Terms Computer Dictionary. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from http://www.techterms.com/definition/ict

KONY 2012 - YouTube . (n.d.).YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

Tapped-In: Voice-to-Text iPhone Apps - YouTube . (n.d.). YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8HRUMpGwqc

Technology and Occupational Therapy - YouTube . (n.d.). YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4Bf9Sv8JdE

Verdonck, M., & Ryan, S. (2008). Mainstream Technology as an Occupational Therapy Tool: Technophobe or Technogeek?.British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(6), 1.

With You - Chris Brown Cover - Justin singing - YouTube . (n.d.).YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQOFRZ1wNLw