Available now! The Click Guide to Digital Technology for Adult Care

“technology supports the development of solutions that are tailored and accessible to individuals while also enabling their wide distribution at significantly lower cost than traditional services” Annika Small Nominet Trust

“My (printed) copy arrived this morning. Very well researched and informative. Well done Shirley – and thank you for mentioning new electronic version of Whose Shoes? – aligned to TLAP’s ‘Making It Real’. Planning launch programme with TLAP next week! :)”   Gill Phillips @WhoseShoes

All the information you need in one place

Whether you work in the public, private or not-for-profit sectors (or are a carer or use services), digital technology is transforming the way care services are delivered. It will not, of course, ever replace human contact, kindness, empathy and understanding. But it does allow people to connect in different ways, quickly and easily. Digital technology and social networks provide some of the most powerful tools available today for building a sense of belonging, support and sharing among groups of people who share similar interests and concerns.

The Click Guide to Digital Technology for Adult Social Care has been developed to help professionals, carers and service users make use of the fantastic resources which are already available across the whole spectrum of needs in adult social care today. We believe it is important to bring all of this information together in a single place. The Guide lists more than a hundred resources, spanning the areas of care, health and housing.

The Click Guide to Digital Technology for Adult Social Care can be downloaded instantly as  an eBook at a cost of £3-99 or ordered as a hard copy printed publication.

NB: If you are using a computer you will need the free Adobe Digital programme.  Clicking on the downloaded book should prompt you to install this if you do not have it already.  On a tablet you need to identify the correct app for reading an epub (on an iPad this is iBooks). If you still cannot open the book we advise you to contact the Lulu technical support team

Contact us to find out about the discounts available for bulk orders of the printed publication.

The smartC4RE EU project are looking for UK partners (adjacent to the North Sea)

 An ageing population is growing in all European countries, more specifically in rural areas. This demographic change has been identified as a common challenge. Smart Caring Rural Communities (smartC4RE) is an EU funded project exploring e-health, integrated care, active and healthy ageing and e-learning. The project aims to maintain, enhance and reinforce accessible and affordable social, home and health care systems. The use of digital technologies is an important part of reaching this goal.

smartC4RE is focussed at the needs of people living in the participating regions in the seven countries around the North Sea. The overall target is to enable EU citizens to lead healthy, active and independent lives while ageing. Orkney Island Council is a potential project partner and the partnership is now looking for other UK public project partners adjacent to the North Sea.

Jan Walberg the project manager is prepared to come and visit potential project partners to explain the possibilities and advantages of EU projects. This could be an interesting development for a Health and Wellbeing Board in the right geographical location.

For more information contact Jan bureau.walburg@iaf.nl @BureauWalburg or visit the project’s website www.smartC4RE.eu 

How to cut the cost of publications without compromising your message

Many organizations are looking to rationalize their publishing strategy, realizing that digital publishing has come of age and that substantial cost-savings can be made by switching from print to digital formats. However simply transferring all publications to web publishing carries risks. There is a growing body of evidence that readers do not engage as thoroughly with materials published on the web as they do with printed materials (or materials that are presented in other digital contexts, such as e-books). And where readers are printing out materials from the web, there is a reputational risk from transferring the burden and the cost of printing from your organization to theirs (or to them personally).

There is an alternative, however, which achieves the benefits for your organization of switching from print to digital publishing, yet avoids these risks. This is to make your publications available in print-on-demand and e-book formats. There are numerous print on demand providers who will produce publications with high production values, at no cost to your organization (but with the advantage of generating a revenue stream according to the pricing model you set) and at reasonable cost to the reader, quickly and efficiently. Similarly, providing the same publications in e-book format (for Amazon’s Kindle devices, as well as for tablets and smartphones) can greatly increase the impact of publications without further requirements for your organization than are needed, for instance, to make your publications available as PDF downloads from your website.

We are working with a number of organisations in this area. Contact us to  explore the possibilities.

Thoughts about innovation, digital engagement and social housing for #sitraconf13 #digihousing

On the 12^th February I am contributing to the Sitra Annual Conference and AGM 2013 exploring the theme of Innovating for Efficiency. I will be speaking and coordinating a session exploring the value of digital engagement and how technology can play an integral role for the supported housing sector. Presenters also include Jasmine Ali from @patientopinion and Nathalie McDermott from @onroadmedia who will be joined by a frequent Unheard Holler blogger to discuss how they have been using digital technology to engage and empower clients with experiences of homelessness.

It is always interesting developing a presentation for an unknown audience some of whom may be very confident about using digital engagement and others yet to be convinced it has any value at all in their day to day work. As an experiment I am sharing my presentation beforehand with some critical questions which I hope we can explore in the panel discussion.

The housing sector is facing big challenges as the social, economic and political context in which housing providers operate is changing. Whether you work in the public, private or not-for-profit sectors digital technology is transforming the way care services are delivered. And social housing has a big role to play in providing care and support for tenants to live more fulfilling lives. This ranges from providing access to the internet, employment opportunities and economic regeneration through to digital community hubs for older people.

Digital technology and social networks provide some of the most powerful tools available today for building a sense of belonging, support and sharing. There is an increasing need to help people develop online skills in order to be able to access public services. Over 30 million people in the UK are now using social media.

Welcome to the social media revolution with thanks to Eric Qualman 

“it is not a question now about whether you should be involved in social media but how well you do it”  @equalman

Posing the question “How social is your organisation?”  made me think about my Social  Networks

Twitter @shirleyayres

LinkedIn: uk.linkein.com/in/shirleyayres

I also run three LinkedIn groups!

Blog: Connecting Social Care and Social Media

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/disruptivesocialcare

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DisruptiveSocialCare

RebelMouse: https://www.rebelmouse.com/shirleyayres/

Weekly Newspaper: http://paper.li/shirleyayres

Maybe worth noting that I am just one person running a small digital engagement consultancy with a few trusted associates! How many people in your organisation have a responsibility for communications?

What does digital engagement mean for Improvement and Efficiency?

New and different ways of connecting staff, customers, tenants, clients professional colleagues and the wider public

Encouraging innovation and new ways of thinking

Demonstrating your wish to engage and be more open, transparent and accountable

But connection isn’t about platforms or tools. It’s about people – being ready to listen and wanting to share

Can online innovations enhance social care? I want to encourage debate and welcome comments. I have written the first in a series of posts which explore the challenges for us all. It is relevant to social housing and I am very happy to discuss how we can implement the recommendations.

“Young people don’t see the risk of social media but older people don’t see the power” @nickkeane speaking at the European Conference on Social Media and Policing Lisbon

Worth reading “How social media can help you do your job in #ukhousing”  on the Guardian Housing Hub. How many of you are using the Connected Housing online portal?

Connected Housing  Visceral Business carried out research for Thames Valley Housing on how the social housing  sector is adapting to social business and social media. The study helps housing providers think about how and where they can improve business performance by using social media and networking technology to their advantage

“10 Myths from 2012 The Year We went Social” a thought provoking presentation from Paul Taylor @paulbromford about key learning for the Bromford Group

Can the internet combat isolation and build new connections?

How digital technology can help build employment skills – The Working Well Challenge

Attending #SitraConf13? I'm crowdsourcing thoughts "What is your one big question about #socialmedia?

— Shirley Ayres (@shirleyayres) February 10, 2013

https://twitter.com/bartle_bartle/status/300716841041530880

How social housing are engaging with staff and tenants

• Accord Group helping residents get web-savvy with new taster sessions
• Bromford Group are recruiting staff online #HRin140: Award Winning Recruitment From the Bromford Group
• The Digital Housing Hub #digihousing where social housing helps residents embrace the internet
• OurHousing helps social housing landlords and customers have conversations to improve services together

What guidance (if any) do you need to feel comfortable using social media? If your organisations does not have any guidelines I recommend reading the Bromford Group Social Media Policy

Why use social media?

• Be found online – do you know what people are saying about you?
•  Increased visibility and reputation
• Promote your services
• Share useful information and resources
• Make connections and engage with the people who use your services

Before any organisations starts using social media I would strongly advise that the following questions are asked and discussed.

• What is the focus of your digital engagement activities?
• Who is your target audience?
• Where will they be found?
• What social networks should you be using?
• What are the key messages you wish to share?
• How will you track the effectiveness of your social media presence?
• How will you support and empower staff to use new media?
• How will you stand out from the crowd in a noisy marketplace?

If you wish to contribute to the discussion tomorrow through Twitter use #sitraconf13. I will not be tweeting very much during the day but I am looking forward to meeting lots of people in real life! I will catch up  with the discussions later. There is often a lot of value in the discussions that happen after a conference.

We had a separate but related debate on Twitter over the weekend about the value of #opendata. I am looking forward to learning more about Population Insight.

HACT launches new #opendata tool 'Population Insight' for housing sector @matt_leach < look forward to finding out more at #sitraconf13!

— Shirley Ayres (@shirleyayres) February 9, 2013

@AndrewvanDoorn will be presenting update on Population Insight at #sitraconf13 Great chance for #housing to maximise census #opendata

— Vic Rayner 💚 (@vicrayner) February 9, 2013

https://twitter.com/shirleyayres/status/300339244172447744

https://twitter.com/PaulBromford/status/300941863693729792

https://twitter.com/LisaJLouis/status/301033475836899328

Coming soon! The Click Guide to Digital Technology for Adult Social Care

Can online innovations enhance social care?

 Can online innovations enhance social care? My new provocation paper for the Nominet Trust is published today along with the first in a series of posts exploring the challenges.

 

I hope that you will add your thoughts to this important debate! 

Coming soon! The Click Guide to Digital Technology for Adult Social Care

All the information you need in one place

Whether you work in the public, private or not-for-profit sectors (or are a carer or use services), digital technology is transforming the way care services are delivered. It will not, of course, ever replace human contact, kindness, empathy and understanding. But it does allow people to connect in different ways, quickly and easily. And digital technology and social networks provide some of the most powerful tools available today for building a sense of belonging, support and sharing among groups of people who share similar interests and concerns.

The Click Guide to Digital Technology for Adult Social Care has been developed to help professionals, carers and service users make use of the fantastic resources which are already available across the whole spectrum of needs in adult social care today. We believe it is important to bring all of this information together in a single place. The Guide lists more than a hundred resources, spanning the areas of care, health and housing.

Due for publication February 2013 The Click Guide to Digital Technology for Adult Social Care can be downloaded as an eBook at a cost of £3-99 or as a hard copy printed publication (price to be confirmed).

Could crowdfunding support new ways of thinking in care?

“Knowledge is useless if it’s exclusive. If you really want change, you really want it to be inclusive, where everyone’s included, otherwise you’re just going to have more of the same in the future.” will.i.am interviewed in the Guardian 15th December 2012 @iamwill

I am fortunate to be connected to over 10,000 people through social networks. If each person in my network invested £7-00 we could produce a weekly Disruptive Social Care podcast throughout 2013. Or if innovative care organisations sponsored a show we would reach our target even more quickly!

The podcasts were developed to promote innovative thinking about care in the 21^st century by bringing people and ideas together. With over 5000 downloads and views of the Disruptive Social Care podcast we have created a unique communications platform.

When Stu and I launched the Disruptive Social Care podcasts we wanted to spread the word about care innovations, share great ideas and promote the value of digital technology to help people and communities connect and collaborate. We recognised the need for digital leadership to drive the adoption of technology in care.

We are passionate about ensuring that good practice in care, health, housing, education, employment and research is promoted and shared. We want Disruptive Social Care to become the benchmark for innovators. To date we have self funded the podcasts. We hope that there are enough innovative individuals and organisations who share our values and will help us to reach a bigger audience.

“The social care sector produces tons of outputs in the forms of papers and reports and so on and I struggle to keep up with a lot of it quite frankly, but I never struggle to find time to listen to your weekly podcast, and I think what is distinctive about it is that you offer a fresh take on a lot of the challenges that we face and I don’t think there’s anything quite like it, so do keep it up, I think it’s a really refreshing contribution, and challenge actually, to the way we do things”

Richard Humphries, Assistant Director of Policy The Kings Fund @richardatkf 

Giving a voice to innovators is essential if we are to develop care services fit for the 21^st century. Dare I suggest that publishing 50 reports will not be as effective as Simone Florio talking about the inspiring Healthy Living Club at Lingham Court @HLCC supporting people living with dementia, Anthony Ribot @RibotMaximus discussing user experience, design and  Threedom the world’s simplest smartphone and Mark Brown @markoneinfour sharing his thoughts about the need for radical changes in mental health services.

We need your help and support to continue to produce our independent, provocative and edgy weekly shows. And a very big thank you to our first friends and supporters! @FOL_LTD @Ermintrude2 @Recovery4_me @BPDFFS @MindingsStu @clarkmike 

How to sponsor the Disruptive Social Care podcast Any questions? Do contact me if you need an invoice before sponsoring the podcasts. @shirleyayres

Will we succeed with our very ambitious vision? If innovation and new ways of thinking about care is part of your DNA we hope you will support us. Only time will tell but do keep  an eye  on how many innovative organisations are prepared to sign up and support us!