Knowledge and Skills Sets for Telecare Service Staff in the Context of Digital Health

Abstract

Telecare services have an established place within the United Kingdom. Through using online technologies to help mostly older people to remain at home, they are recognised as having a support role for health as well as social care. This positions telecare services within the broader realm of ‘digital health’. As that position becomes more embedded, it poses questions about the nature of tasks that are (or should be) undertaken by telecare staff, and regarding the knowledge and skills that are required. A convergence of telecare and telehealth services is indicated together with a need for some kind of accord or accommodation. This paper summarises the United Kingdom policy context; references the technologies that are provided by telecare services or can be linked to them; notes briefly the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; and proposes six knowledge and skills sets. Outcomes of the UTOPIA study undertaken in England from 2016 to 2017 are drawn upon: this study provided important information from over 100 local authority telecare managers.

Technology in care systems: Displacing, reshaping, reinstating or degrading roles?

“…Telecare emergency response services too have been the focus of limited research, even though those working as ‘first responders’ perform ‘embodied care’ and ‘body work’, attending vulnerable people at times of crisis. Over time, the support required of responders has become increasingly medicalised, initially replacing on‐site wardens in sheltered accommodation who provided out‐of‐hours support with job roles that now include the need for first aid training (Fisk et al, 2020 ). Response services are not minor players in telecare systems, with just over half of local authorities surveyed ( n = 79; Steils et al, 2020 ) commissioning their own instead of relying on unpaid carers or the emergency services.…”

“…Over time, the support required of responders has become increasingly medicalised, initially replacing on-site wardens in sheltered accommodation who provided out-of-hours support with job roles that now include the need for first aid training (Fisk et al, 2020). Response services are not minor players in telecare systems, with just over half of local authorities surveyed (n = 79; Steils et al, 2020) commissioning their own instead of relying on unpaid carers or the emergency services. Just as recent research found unpaid carers are treated as 'resources' whose involvement is taken for granted when they provide the response for telecare services (ibid.…”

“…Also, from a cost perspective, these devices may not present the levels of savings anticipated by commissioners as they either will result in a wasted resource if users are not supported to engage with them, or if commissioned with appropriate 'wraparound' services, additional investment will be required. An alternative scenario is that if local authorities do not provide this support, responsibility may fall to unpaid carers, identified as an issue with telecare devices (Steils et al, 2020).…”

Students Tele-All: Self-Efficacy and Self-Reflection as Measures of Student Success in Telepractice Training

“…Prior to the pandemic, despite increases over time in the use of virtual client encounters in clinical practice, telepractice education had remained limited across health professions [15,16]. Given the pre-existing rise in telepractice service delivery and the now massive increase in its use due to the pandemic, the necessity for telepractice education within health profession programs has become pertinent for students to meet graduation requirements and market needs as they enter the workforce.…”