New education should increase the benefit of welfare technology in care and social care

38 students were present, both physically and digitally, at the start of the course in Arvika Näringslivscenter. The interest in participating has been so great that the initially 30 training places had to be expanded, and for those who miss this year's course, a new chance is given next autumn.

The aim of the training is for the course participants to gain knowledge of how welfare technology, technology development and digitization can be used as aids and enablers in care and social care. It is, for example, about what technical tools and aids are available as well as knowledge about the trends in the area.

Part of the training is also focused on laws, regulations and various security aspects. It should provide a basis for handling ethical stances and risk assessments linked to the use of welfare technology and technology development.

Brings knowledge into the business

The education is aimed at people with professional experience and all students work in parallel with the education in health care, from primary care to social services. The aim is for them to take new knowledge back to their workplaces to increase the opportunities to apply and utilize new, digital technology for increased health.

Hans Karlsson, municipal director in Arvika and chairman of the education's steering group, personally welcomed the participants. He has previously held an assignment as responsible for care and social care issues within SKR and sees great value in the new skills that the course participants can take with them into the business.

- I have longed for this education for several years. We need it to be able to cope with the care mission in the long term. The need for welfare services is increasing greatly, but the availability of labor is not, said Hans Karlsson.

Linking competencies

He compares the knowledge the education provides to that of a translator, who can combine the language of the technicians with the language spoken in care and care. In addition to freeing up resources, he also underlined the value that digitization and welfare technology can contribute to increasing the self-esteem and independence of users and patients. Hans Karlsson mentioned, among other things, a robotic shower and medicine dispensers, of which Arvika has the most in the country per inhabitant, as examples.

- But it's also important how we introduce this technology, it's not just about rolling it out.

Participants from all over the country

The majority of course participants come from Värmland, but there are also participants from the rest of the country. Therese Åsberg works every day at an LSS residence in Gothenburg, where they are already working with digital tools to make the users' everyday lives more independent and manageable, including an app that provides support in various everyday situations.

- I hope that the education will give me a larger network to work with digitization issues. I work at a residence with special support and service and also hope to gain greater knowledge to implement the technology in our work, says Therese Åsberg.