Social care technologies for older people: Evidence for instigating a broader and more inclusive dialogue

Abstract

The social care context is changing in many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries due to demand pressures. In this changing context, social care digital technologies are increasingly championed as a way to support the social care of older adults.We argue that if social care digital technologies are going to benefit older adult social care users then a broader discussion about how social care is received and provided needs to take place. We believe if this broader dialogue does not take place then it is unlikely that policy ambitions about digital technologies ‘transforming’ social care will be realised. In fact, in this scenario it is unlikely that technologies will meet the social care needs of older adults and could actually exacerbate existing issues.In the paper we draw on the policy context and the evidence base for social care technologies and their limitations to support this argument. We conclude by signposting current work underway to instigate a broader and more inclusive dialogue around social care digital technologies.