Mutual ‘App’reciation: Co-production as a model for delivering digital capability within social work education

Abstract

ABSTRACT A major national project, commissioned by Health Education England and delivered by the Social Care Institute for Excellence, in partnership with the British Association of Social Workers is currently studying digital capabilities across the social work profession. The project aims to chart the existing landscape and produce ethical guidance, together with a set of digital capabilities, which will map to existing frameworks. The initial Stakeholders’ Report, has important implications for social work education at all levels, as well as emphasizing relationship and co-production as crucial values for digital design and delivery. This article responds to the initial outputs of this project, by describing the design and delivery of a mobile app created within a UK University Social Work Department, using a co-production model. The completed mobile app is cited as a key example within the Digital Capabilities for Social Work initial Stakeholder Report, which also emphasizes the values which underpinned the app creation. The article is linked to a previous paper, describing original app development within social work education and forms part of a rapidly growing body of work, which attempts to address issues highlighted within the national Digital Capabilities project.