Agnes needs help to find a care provider that understands technology

Good morning everybody, it’s Agnes from Coatbridge speaking to you. Well, as you know, I’ve recently been given self-directed support in Scotland. So I’ve been given a budget and I went for self-directed support option two, which meant that the local authority holds the budget and I’m in control of this budget, or so I thought. But anyway, that’s another story. I had to choose a provider that was approved by the care inspectorate, which was dutifully done. The girls who come in, two support workers, are absolutely fantastic. They get it. And they help me with my ordinary, daily, living tasks and support me to do that, but it’s my IT support that was part of what I wanted and asked for. The girls are not trained to provide this or they do not have the ability, and my provider doesn’t seem to be able to cover this. The IT solution that appears to have been brought in, I’m using or trying this out for two weeks – it’s about to the finished, the trial period – costs about £3,000-£4,000 annually but that’s IT support but it’s *remote* support, for prompting I think, or… I’m not really sure because I don’t know how to use it, really, to my advantage, because it sounds good and it might help others but I’m not quite sure that, in the communication, that this is my IT solution. I need a person to come to my home to help me with Alexa, to help me with my printer, and that kind of thing when it starts to play up. My iPad, when it updates, and then I no longer can work it, the page using the book and all the other apps that’s on it. That kind of thing, also to keep in touch with my virtual friends, my DEEP friends, etc. So there was a bit of a communication mix-up there. What I’m asking is, does anyone who lives in Lanarkshire, know of a provider who could give me, say, some hours per month to do what I just suggested they could do, so that I can meet up with North Lanarkshire, with this provider, and say “this is the kind of help I need and these people, this provider, can provide it”? Sorry if it’s a bit long-winded. I’m trying to make sense of what seems to be nonsense to me. Hopefully someone in Glasgow or North Lanarkshire or some sort of Scottish area can come up with a solution for me or name a provider. Bye for now!