Reflections from an Accelerating Reform Fund project: co-producing a digital self-assessment and reimaging professional practice

18 July 2025

By Duc Tran, Adult Social Care Transformation Programme Manager, Brent Council and Chair of North West London ICS ARF Consortium

In my experience supporting digital transformation within adult social care, technology alone rarely delivers the outcomes we hope for. Even the most sophisticated digital tools risk becoming expensive form-filling exercises if we fail to address the human factors that determine success or failure. When developing tools like online self-assessments, the principles of co-production are essential to creating solutions that meet people’s needs and deliver positive outcomes. That’s why it was so important for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)’s Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF) to request that all projects consider co-production from the outset.

A common misconception is that digital transformation ends with the product launch. I believe the development of the tech solution only represents approximately 20% of the total effort required to create a successful digital service. The remaining 80% involves the critical work of co-producing the implementation and delivery plan alongside both people who draw on care and support and the stakeholders responsible for bringing the service to life.

Co-design to co-production

This reflects the complex reality of digital transformation in social care. While co-design establishes the foundation -understanding the needs of people drawing on care, mapping journeys, defining functionality – co-production is critical in addressing challenges that emerge when turning design into operational reality. This includes co-producing communications and engagement plans with residents, staff training on new technology, ongoing user support, and service refinement.

The transition from co-design to co-implementation should be an evolution, not a handover. Those involved in co-design during User Acceptance Testing have invaluable insights that extend into co-producing implementation and delivery plans, ensuring the service remains person-centred throughout process.

Continuity of engagement bridges the gap between conceptual design and practical implementation. The involvement of those receiving care from the start can identify barriers, suggest solutions, and advocate for the service within their communities. Their ongoing participation creates a feedback loop, enabling continuous improvement and responsiveness to changing needs.

Enabling self-discovery and strengths-based practice

An online Care Act self-assessment should be more than a digital form-filling exercise. When co-designed and co-produced, these tools become powerful for self-discovery, helping people identify strengths and raising awareness of community services.

This approach aligns with the Care Act’s emphasis on prevention, early intervention, and promoting individual wellbeing, allowing the tool to be used ‘upstream’ by community organisations, as well as statutory services ‘downstream’. This can enable social prescribers and staff from commissioned providers to explore the person’s care and support needs earlier in the person’s care journey. Features that encourage people to reflect on their capabilities and aspirations turn the self-assessment into a strengths-based tool, empowering individuals and supporting their sense of agency and self-worth.

Digital self-assessments offer unique opportunities for connection and collaboration beyond traditional paper assessments. Effective tools include functionality for people to share their assessments securely with family members, carers, advocates, or professionals.

This sharing acknowledges that care decisions are rarely made in isolation. By enabling controlled information sharing, the tool supports collaborative care planning while preserving user autonomy.

As a conversation tool: “What matters to me?”

An online self-assessment should serve as a conversation tool that helps people to explore “What matters to me?”. This represents a shift from deficit-based models focused on what people cannot do, towards person-centred approaches prioritising values, preferences and goals.

As a conversation starter, the assessment catalyses meaningful dialogue between individuals and supporters, providing a framework to explore wellbeing, identify support needs and articulate personal outcomes. This conversational approach makes the assessment part of the intervention itself, promoting reflection, self-awareness and goal-setting.

The tool should facilitate exchanging information about wellbeing and support needs in ways that promote understanding and collaboration, creating meaningful dialogue about how formal and informal supports can work together effectively.

The cultural shift: purpose over process

One significant challenge in digital transformation is supporting staff through a culture shift. Many practitioners have developed a ‘form-filling mentality’ – an efficient but transactional approach to gathering information.

Digital tools can help workers to re-focus their conversations with people by shifting attention to the person, rather than the process. For many workers, years of working with traditional assessment processes have shifted focus toward form-filling, which is an efficient but inherently impersonal approach. It could be the fear of losing ‘professional control’ by working with tech, which enables people to have greater access to information and more control over their care and support needs, or it could be a lack of tech literacy and confidence.

Resistance often arises not from unwillingness but from pressures like caseload management and performance targets, which have historically rewarded efficiency over depth of engagement. Supporting staff through this transition requires acknowledging these tensions and integrating meaningful conversations into workflows.

Some councils, like my own, have introduced artificial intelligence (AI) transcription tools to relieve administrative burden and support better conversations, but these must be used responsibly with the person’s consent or in their best interests (Mental Capacity Act, S4).

Training staff to use digital self-assessments as conversation starters requires reimagining assessments not as data capture but as gateways to rich conversations about a person’s strengths and community assets. This shift demands a reorientation of professional practice towards genuine person-centred approaches, not just technical training.

My journey in developing digital services for social care has shown that sustained commitment to genuine partnership with people who have lived experience is fundamental to success. Co-production extends far beyond co-design, requiring ongoing collaboration and sometimes difficult conversations about changing established practices.

What intrigues me is how digital tools, when co-produced with people, can catalyse broader cultural shifts within social care organisations. Online self-assessments become more than digital services; they become vehicles for transformation, challenging how we engage with the people we serve. With commitment and curiosity, these tools empower self-discovery and collaborative care planning that truly centre the person in their care journey.