Throughout November and December, Skills for Care is running a campaign to help social care workers feel confident with digital technology.
The ‘Improving digital confidence’ campaign aims to take the fear out of the word ‘digital’ and help everyone to gain a better understanding of what being more digital in social care can look like.
With around 10 per cent of adult social care organisations in England yet to go digital, the government has stated its target for there to be established digital, data, and technology talent pipelines, and improved digital literacy among leaders and the workforce, plus all health and social care settings to have the right infrastructure and connectivity to work digitally, by 2025.
Running across the Skills for Care website, social media, and other communication channels, ‘Improving digital confidence’ will cover what digital technology in social care can look like, the benefits of digital technology, and the support available to help people increase their #DigitalConfidence.
Claire Smout, head of digital skills at Skills for Care, said: “Digitisation is high on the agenda for social care, but it can be difficult and daunting to know where to begin. Digital ways of working are here to stay and will increase over time. As a society people are used to having access to technology to monitor their health, using smart home technology to manage lights, heating, locking doors at night, and making calls or accessing social media channels to keep in touch with relatives and friends.
“We need to ensure our services are introducing digital infrastructure and technology to enable people who are drawing on care and support to have continued access to this technology.
“Digital doesn't need to be daunting, and in fact many of us are using technology in our personal and work lives – such as smartphones already without realising this is all part of a digital way of working. Our aim is to help everyone in the sector embrace technology and plan their digital journey, one step at a time.
“We’re excited to launch this campaign to create a wider understanding of what digital social care can look like and to support social care workers in feeling confident with their digital leadership and digital skills.”
