Technology changing lives: how technology can support the goals of the Care Act

Reports on the key messages from a roundtable discussion on technology in social care and how it can help support the goals of the Care Act. The event was jointly hosted by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and the Department of Health and is one of a series of roundtable discussions exploring how to improve care and support at a time of growing demand, demographic change and financial constraint. Key messages from the event are reported, and include: the need to establish a national and local vision; use technology to solve a specific problem; the need to test and co-produce technological and digital solutions with people who use services and carers; the need to develop knowledge and skills in the social care sector; the importance of digital inclusion; the role of technology in data-sharing and decision-making. The report includes summaries of presentations from Jon Rouse, Keith Spink, Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, Jim Thomas, Madeline Starr and Charlotte Black. The roundtable has also used to help inform the thinking of the National Information Board.

Managing knowledge to improve social care: social care 2.0: innovation through technology

Part of e-Learning courses

This interactive module is the last of nine modules comprising the e-learning resource ‘Managing knowledge to improve social care’. It uses video and audio to explain: the term web 2.0 and its associated technologies including online social networking, micro-blogging (Twitter) and wikis; the evidence that web 2.0 tools can support user centred care; how web 2.0 tools can be used to support practice; how web 2.0 tools can be used to improve the health and experience of care service users. The estimated time to complete the module is 20-30 minutes. It comprises five sections: Introduction; Defining web 2.0; Web 2.0 in social care; Web 2.0 for you; and Conclusion, which provides a summary of main points. The module concludes with a self-assessment exercise.

E-readiness in the social care sector: building the capacity for e-learning

Research programme to establish whether the social care sector in England is ready to maximise the use of elearning in terms of technical and organisational infrastructure and in terms of the availability of e-learning content for social care.