Webwatch: Encouraging social care employers to think digital
By Webwatch, , ,

This Get Online Week (12-18 October), Skills for Care is encouraging social care employers to think about how they could be more ‘digital’ as a way of working more efficiently and effectively.

It is becoming increasingly important that service managers and frontline workers can be digital thinkers and doers. As such, ICT skills are commonly seen as one of the Core Skills needed for social care workers. Among the many benefits of being digital, staff can gain quicker access to information and find new and engaging ways to stay in touch with service users.

Digital technology can support social care workers in three broad areas:

  • Working directly with people with care and support needs and their carers
    Research carried out by Skills for Care found that several services used digital technology in leisure activities with service users and felt they played a vital role in making services more person centred. Assisted living technology (ALT) is also increasingly being used by social care providers. You can find out more about ALT, including access to free eLearning, here.
  • Workers’ learning and professional development
    The same research also found that 95% of participants used digital technology to support workforce learning and development. Organisations highlighted cases of using a range of digital videos, e-learning and webinars to carry out training. Social care managers can download a free guide on how to make the most of digital technology for learning and development here.
  • Organisational business support and information management systems
    The research also suggested that the use of digital technologies is most pervasive in generic organisational activities, particularly internal and external communication, and people management. This included activities such as using social media in recruitment, logging working hours online and using an app to send reminder texts to workers before a shift.

If you are interested in finding out more about how you can track retention rates and qualifications online, have a look at The National Minimum Data Set for Social Care. The Digital Capabilities research report explores the current use of digital technologies in the social care sector and includes real life examples from social care organisations.

Developing the ICT skills of your workforce

There are a range of free resources out there to support staff to develop their ICT skills:

  • The Tinder Foundation provides a range of free online resources to help people improve their digital skills, including e-learning through their Learn my Way platform.
  • Skills for Care’s Core Skills: Practical Guide supports social care employers to implement Core Skills in the workplace, including ICT skills.