Shannon McNee, our Digital Inclusion Development Manager, asks how a National Care Service can recognise digital inclusion as fundamental to people’s human rights.
Disabled people, and those living with long-term conditions, are significantly more likely to face digital exclusion. As vital services become increasingly digital by default, digital access can no longer be viewed as a luxury and instead must be recognised as a fundamental human right.
Frontline social care practitioners are in the lives of thousands of people each day who are at risk of digital exclusion, and so present an amazing opportunity to reach the most vulnerable through person-centred digital inclusion support. However, this support can only be provided if frontline social care staff feel confident in their own digital skills.
Carr Gomm launched the Digital Inclusion Research Project (DIRP) in 2021 to learn more about the digital experiences of people we support – and frontline staff – to ensure everyone has the choice and opportunity to get online. Through this process we have learned that many frontline staff:
- Do not see themselves as “techy” and feel that their digital skills are not strong enough to share with people we support
- Worry that they will accidentally break devices
- Feel concerned about their ability to keep people we support safe and well online
Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy outlines workforce digital skills as a key priority in ensuring the health and social care sector thrives in an increasingly digital world.
However, it is currently unclear how the National Care Service (NCS) aims to place the Strategy into practice. With the Care Inspectorate now outlining quality illustrations for the use of technology, there is a pressing need for social care to ensure frontline staff are appropriately supported and resourced to use digital as a tool within the support they provide.
NCS presents a strong opportunity for digital inclusion to be recognised as a key component of high-quality social care support. To support this, the NCS should consider:
- Establishing agreement of core digital skills for social care (similar work is already underway in England with the publication of the ‘What Good Looks Like’ guidance)
- Developing digital skills training to support individuals across their full career in social care, from induction to further development opportunities
Find out about how we embed digital inclusion in our support.
