Get Connected: Research

2012 E-Readiness in the Social Care Sector for SCIE – Ipsos Mori Report

In 2006 and 2009, SCIE ran studies looking into the e-readiness of the social care sector. In order to track changes in perceptions and prevalence of e-learning within the social care sector Ipsos MORI was asked to conduct a new study in 2012 to assess the current position of e-learning within the sector. Aims and objectives of the 2012 research programme:

The survey intends to look into the use and perceptions of e-learning within the social care sector. By speaking to both employers and employees of care home organisations, the study looks to gauge an overview of views and experiences within the sector.
In addition to issues around e-learning specifically, the study intends to assess the wider training practices within the sector, along with the adoption of ICT within the workplace. This includes analysis of how ready employers and staff feel they are to use.
The findings will feed into SCIE’s Get Connected programme, which aims to enable providers of care for adults in England to access information and communication technology (ICT) more effectively. The survey findings will aim to help SCIE identify aspects of e-learning where it could make a difference.
The skills and training of care workers are key to improving outcomes for service users and users’ satisfaction with the care and support they receive. Quality of care is indeed an important issue for the public as well as the sector more generally – which has been badly affected by recent scandals and press headlines regarding the quality of care delivered by some organisations.

View findings

Download E-readiness in the Social Care Sector for SCIE.

Get Connected Process Evaluation Report

In 2010, the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) commissioned ARP to undertake a study into the process of the Get Connected Investment Project.

The overarching aim of the evaluation was to assess the grants process of the investment project.

View findings:

Download Get Connected Process Evaluation Report.

Get Connected Impact Evaluation Report

In 2010, the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) commissioned the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) and the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) to undertake a study into the impact of the Get Connected Investment Project.

The overarching aim of the evaluation was to assess the impact of the funding on service users and staff.

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Download Get Connected Impact Evaluation Report.

First and second survey of Get Connected Grant Recipients - Institute for Employment Studies

This interim report sets out the findings from a survey undertaken of all care homes and domiciliary care organisations that had introduced changes to information and communications technology funded through the first round of the Get Connected grant scheme (funded through the Department of Health and managed by the Social Care Institute for Excellence, SCIE).

It gives examples of the ways in which technology is being used to improve quality of life for residents in care and nursing homes and for individuals receiving domiciliary care services. Staff too are benefiting as the technology enables improved access to online training and information.

The survey is part of a wider evaluation being conducted by IES in partnership with NIACE, the National Institure for Adult and Continuing Education.

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2009 E-Readiness in the Social Care Sector for SCIE – Ipsos Mori Report

In 2009 the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) commissioned Ipsos MORI to undertake a research programme with the following objectives:

To establish whether the social care sector in England was ready to maximise the use of e-learning in terms of technical and organisational infrastructure and in terms of the availability of e-learning content for social care
To provide an assessment of the capacity of the social care sector as a whole to use and produce e-learning, in particular in Internet-based learning, and to exploit its full potential in pursuit of improved services for users and carers

View findings

2006 E-Readiness in the Social Care Sector: Building the capacity for e-learning

Published: December 2006

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) commissioned Ipsos MORI to carry out a research programme with the following objectives:

To establish whether the social care sector in England is ready to maximise the use of e-learning in terms of technical and organisational infrastructure and in terms of the availability of e-learning content for social care
To provide an assessment of the current capacity of the social care sector as a whole to use and produce e-learning, in particular in internet-based learning, and to exploit its full potential in pursuit of improved services for users and carers

SCIE defines e-learning as “the use of information and communication technologies to provide, support or enhance learning”.
To achieve these ends, Ipsos MORI carried out four main strands of a complex research programme:

A review of the literature surrounding e-readiness and e-learning in the social care sector;
A survey of 516 social care sector employers (mostly managers, with three in five operating in the private sector, a quarter in the voluntary sector and one in seven from local authorities);
A survey of 994 social care sector staff (largely women with two in five being frontline workers); and
A series of four case study focus groups among social care staff to assess the practical enablers of and barriers to e-learning.