Peace of mind for families and care teams

Actively involving people who use care services, and their family members, in care planning is one of the biggest priorities for managers, staff and families, according to new research carried out on behalf of the digitising social care programme. 

Researchers spoke to more than 200 people in Devon, including over a hundred face-to-face interviews in care homes and shadowing home visits, to understand what improvements people want to see in how care is planned and delivered. 

Many people and their families said they would like access to the ‘family portal’ functionality of digital social care records (DSCRs), allowing them to stay up to date on everything from personal care and medical support to daily mood and emotional wellbeing. Doing this digitally, for example through a mobile app, means family members can check in at any time and from anywhere, to see how their loved one is doing. And they can do so ‘without bothering staff with phone calls’ – something many family members say they are often concerned about when phoning busy care teams for updates. One interviewee whose mother lives in residential care said, 

The ability to know how she is feeling in the morning just helps my own piece of mind.

The research found that families were keen to access practical information on personal care, health data, medication changes and incidents but also other important aspects of day-to-day life, such as what activities their loved ones are taking part in and what their general mood or emotional state is. The daughter of a person receiving daily care at home said,

Medication changes were a particularly scary time where mum’s health went up and down, so I would have liked more information at this stage.

Researchers found that people who had a package of care support in their home found the ability to check on rotas and know who to expect ahead of each visit really valuable. 

The research found that access to family portal functionality within digital social care records is currently variable. Many care providers said where it is available they wanted to open up access as much as possible, but that if often comes at an additional cost, which presents funding challenges. 

Some care providers also expressed nervousness about giving full access to a person's digital social care plan, with concerns ranging from safeguarding vulnerable people to the risk of inviting too many enquiries. However, many care providers that have already set up family access have in fact found the opposite to be true – enquiry levels reduced once families could access updates for themselves.  And as one registered manager pointed out, the level of access can be carefully managed so that only certified people have access to set information. 

Care providers who have taken steps to extend access to family members reported positive results, outlining how it has helped increase transparency and build relationships between care teams and the families of people they are supporting. Read more about the benefits one Bournemouth care home achieved when they added family portal functionality to residents’ digital social care records.   

The digitising social care programme offers a range of help and advice for care providers to make the most of digital technologies, including support and guidance on how to access funding. 

But the clock is ticking. Find out more about accessing funding on our ‘Clock is Ticking’ campaign page.