Care providers must involve people they support in designing new digital solutions – VODG

A new report outlines how health and social care providers must collaborate with users of services when designing apps, websites and other digital technologies.

The publication, from VODG in partnership with the National Care Forum, Co-producing technology: harnessing digital solutions for social care, recommends how providers can maximise the benefits of such new approaches.

Digital solutions are at the heart of the NHS Five Year Forward View and the Local Government Association’s vision for technology underlines how information and technology will transform the delivery of health and social care services. Yet there has been little focus on how people supported by social care are actively included in designing such digital developments.

The publication sets out key recommendations to redress this imbalance, including:

  • user engagement must be at the heart of designing successful solutions – it supports ownership and take up of the final product
  • technology is not an add-on, but integral to how providers improve the support and inclusion of people they work with
  • organisations do not need to be technologically advanced to create digital solutions
  • if organisations jointly design and deliver shared approaches, there are potential savings to be realised through collective purchasing power.

The report also includes detailed descriptions of best practice.

More, and download the report: www.vodg.org.uk/news/care-providers-must-involve-people-they-support-in-designing-new-digital-solutions/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *