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Health

Using Telecare for Older People In Adult social care

Background and study aims

UTOPIA aimed to understand Adult Social Care Department (ASCD) perspectives on the role of telecare in supporting older people, how it is deployed, and what information is collected by ASCDs to help them assess whether it is fulfilling this role.

Assistive technology and telecare (ATT) is the use of electronic devices to support the independence of people with social care needs. It is usually used to compensate for physical and cognitive frailty to support independence.

Austerity and rising demand for services due to demographic change are twin pressures encouraging ASCDs to consider the use of telecare. Many ASCDs have invested significantly in telecare to transform the delivery of home care and support services because they think that it has a major role in supporting people to lead more independent lives, and because it can be a more cost effective alternative to care provided by another human being.

Early evaluations of telecare services and projects strongly indicated such cost effectiveness. However, more recent findings from a large and robust trial of telecare funded by the Department of Health—the ‘Whole System Demonstrator Project’—found no evidence of benefit to telecare users.

What is the relevance of UTOPIA?

Current research evidence suggests that telecare does not improve outcomes for recipients and will not lead to significant savings in expenditure. This suggests that telecare may be a poor ‘investment’ in the way it is currently deployed. If this is the case, ASCDs may wish to consider whether scarce resources might be better spent on alternative, non-telecare based services that may be more effective, or alternatively, to make changes to the way telecare is assessed for and implemented to improve its effectiveness.

UTOPIA used researched insights to establish ‘good practice’ and develop materials to optimise decisions about successful adoption and use of telecare.

Research team

John Woolham, Nicole Steils, Dr Malcom Fisk, Jeremy Porteus, Kirsty Forsyth

Project team

Steils 160

Nicole Steils

Research Fellow

Woolham 160

John Woolham

Visiting Senior Research Fellow

Publications

Report

Utopia project report 2018

Woolham, J. G., Steils, N., Fisk, M., Porteus, J., & Forsyth, K. (2018) The UTOPIA project. Using Telecare for Older People In Adult social care: The findings of a 2016-17 national survey of local authority telecare provision for older people in England. London: Social Care Workforce Research Unit, King's College London. Published February 2018

Woolham, J., Steils, N., Fisk, M., Porteus, J. & Forsyth, K. (2018) Is there a clearer role for electronic assistive technology and telecare in adult social care?, Research Findings 89. London: NIHR School for Social Care Research.

Articles

Fisk, M., Woolham, J., & Steils, N. (2020). Knowledge and Skills Sets for Telecare Service Staff in the Context of Digital Health. Journal of the International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth, 8. https://doi.org/10.29086/JISfTeH.8.e15

Woolham, J. G., Steils, N., Forsyth, K., Fisk, M., & Porteus, J. (2019). Making use of evidence in commissioning practice: insights into the understanding of a telecare study's findings. Evidence & Policy, 1-16. [1]. https://doi.org/10.1332/174426419X15730452200823

Woolham, J. G., Steils, N., Fisk, M., Porteus, J., & Forsyth, K. (2019). Outcomes for older telecare recipients: The importance of assessments. Journal of Social Work, 1-26. [0]. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468017319883499

Steils, N., Woolham, J. G., Fisk, M., Porteus, J., & Forsyth, K. (2019). Carers’ involvement in telecare provision by local councils for older people in England: perspectives of council telecare managers and stakeholders. Ageing and Society.

Chapter

Woolham, J. G., & Steils, N. (2018). Les technologies d'assistance électronique et de télé-assistance pour les personnes âgées en Angleterre: sont-elles personnalisées, et devrait-on les personnaliser? In H. Michel, H. Prevot-Huille, & R. Picard (Eds.), L'avenir des silver tech: conception, usage et évaluation Presses de l'ehesp.

Professional press

Woolham, J. G. (2018). Telecare: addressing the problems and challenges. Journal of Dementia Care, 26(3), 18-19.

Blog posts

Steils, N. (2017) 'At the German Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics', Social Care Workforce blog, 16 October.

Steils, N. (2017) 'Use of Assistive Technology and telecare in Germany – visiting the ‘independent living centre’ exhibition in Frankfurt am Main', Social Care Workforce blog, 16 October.

Conferences

Presentations

Woolham, J., & Steils, N., (2022) 'Using telecare to support the independence of older people and people with dementia: policy, practice, and the impact of evidence', British Geriatrics Society, online, 7 April.

Woolham, J. (2018) 'Telecare for older people: are we getting the best out of it?' Workforce perspectives on the care and support of older people in England, King's College London, 21 February.

Woolham, J., (2017) 'Telecare: is it a problem or a solution? Findings from the UTOPIA (Using Telecare for Older People In Adult Social Care) online survey of English Local Authorities', Housing Learning and Improvement Network Festival of Ideas conference, London, 24 March.

Woolham, J., & Steils, N., (2017) 'How are English Adult Social Care Departments using telecare with older people? Emerging issues from the UTOPIA study', NIHR School for Social Care Research, London, 12 April.

Woolham, J., Steils, N., Fisk, M., Forsyth, K., & Porteus, J., (2017) 'Telecare and older people in England: findings from a national survey of Local Authorities in 2016-17', British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference, Swansea, 6 July.

Steils, N., Woolham, J., Forsyth, K., Fisk, M. & Porteus, J. (2017) 'The role for telecare in social care for older people: strategies, needs and outcomes – findings from the UTOPIA study ', British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference, Swansea, 7 July.

Steils, N., Woolham, J., Fisk, M., Porteus, J. & Forsyth, K. (2017) 'Einsatz von technologischen Hilfen bei der sozialen Pflege von Senioren in England –Ergebnisse der UTOPIA Studie. UTOPIA: Using Telecare with Older People In Adult Social Care', Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gerontologie und Geriatrie (DGGG) Gemeinsame Jahrestagung Sektion III + IV, Fulda, Germany, 28-29 September.

Woolham, J., (2017) 'What does evidence informed telecare look like?', Webinar for Research in Practice for Adults, Dartington Hall, Devon, 3 October.

Poster

Steils, N., Woolham, J., Fisk, M., Forsyth, K. and Porteus, J. (2018) ‘Involvement of unpaid carers in the provision of telecare to older people – findings from the UTOPIA study’, British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference, Manchester, 4 July.

Project status: Completed

Principal investigators

Woolham 160

John Woolham

Visiting Senior Research Fellow

Affiliations

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