Edexcel Level 3 BTEC Nationals in Health and Social Care

UNIT 43: TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CAREAssessmentEvidence for this unit is likely to be a combination of that gained during workexperience placements, and school/college-based work with technology, projectsand discussion.P1 can be assessed through the evidence presented for the assessment of anotherunit, for example, Unit 22: Research Methodology for Health and Social Care. Thedocument produced needs to be complex, and include the use of software for wordprocessing, spreadsheets and charts in its preparation.P2, M1 and D1 can then be assessed through one assignment. Learners should beencouraged to gain evidence for these criteria whilst on their different workexperience placements. Visits to Health and Social Care settings could also be used asthe basis for learners to gain evidence. Such evidence is likely to be in the form of aword-processed document, possibly supplemented with examples from softwareapplications. For P2, learners need to identify software packages designedspecifically for health and social care, with these being examined in more detail forM1, and their uses explained. For D1, learners need to look at the strengths andweaknesses of the software packages and evaluate the benefits of the use oforganisational technology for health and social care patients/service users.The remaining assessment criteria focus on the use of other technologies in thehealth and social care sectors, and therefore could be assessed by means of anotherassignment. Learners can gain evidence through the use of visits, guest speakers, andtheir work experience placements. P3 requires a description as to the uses oftechnology in health and social care, using a number of examples that demonstrate avariety of uses. P4 then requires learners to focus on assistive technology, and islinked to P5 which requires learners to describe the ethical issues surrounding the useof assistive technologies. This needs to include issues such as the benefits to thepatients/service users, any possible negative issues, and confidentiality issues. P4and P5 need to be extended for M2, for which learners need to examine in detail andexplain the implications of the use of assistive technologies. For D2 learners need toinvestigate and evaluate the use of assistive technologies for one group ofpatients/service users. They could, for example, consider technologies for theblind/partially sighted, and explain advantages and disadvantages of their use.Links to National Occupational Standards, other BTEC units, other BTECqualifications and other relevant units and qualifications updateThe knowledge and skills gained through this unit link with Unit 1: DevelopingEffective Communication in Health and Social Care, Unit 6: Personal and ProfessionalDevelopment in Health and Social Care and Unit 22: Research Methodology forHealth and Social Care. The unit covers both the generic application of technology inthe workplace and the specific application of technology in health and social care,and as such it links with many other units. There are opportunities for crossreferencingand integrated work between units.532BN018467 – Specification – Edexcel Level 3 BTEC Nationals in Health and Social Care– Issue 1 – February 2007 © Edexcel Limited 2007