Embracing Digital Technology In The Care Sector

[00:00]

Anoushka Farouk, everyLIFE Technologies: …putting social care on the map, and I think it's a combined effort that will do that. But resisting and attacking the issues, I don't think that's the way forward.

Cameron: Hi, I'm Cameron from Smooth Digital [Smooth Digital, now Prosperwell], and welcome to Tea with Tobi, the show where we ask and answer the questions playing on the minds of care sector business leaders. This week's episode is sponsored by everyLIFE Technologies, and we'd like to thank Google for allowing us to use their podcasting studio. So, as always, let's kick off the show with a few words from our marketing strategy director, Tobi Alli-Usman.

Tobi Alli-Usman: All right. For those of you who are new to the show, our ultimate aim is to help care businesses maximise their ability to provide the very best care in their communities. We understand there are a number of challenges you face when it comes to growth, but we want this to be the place where you can sit back, enjoy a cup of tea and listen to a growth-focused conversation. With that being said, we'd like to welcome our guest, Anoushka Farouk. Welcome.

Cameron: Just before we start and get into the real meat of the podcast, could you tell us a little bit about your background and your area of expertise in the care sector?

Anoushka: I work in care management software, digital care planning software, and the differences between them, which is why I'm at everyLIFE. I'm the director of market engagement, which means my role is to engage with the market as much as possible, to try to understand our customers and inform our growth and our product development, and also to help understand what the issues might be out there in the sector, so that we're better equipped to help.

Cameron: Right, I'm looking forward to it. So without further ado, Tobi, take it away and let's jump straight in.

Choosing care management software

Tobi: So the question I've got is this. There are a number of owners out there who probably want to make the jump from a rostering system to a care management system. I've been to the events, and there are so many different providers out there. How can we make this less confusing, and what sort of questions should these owners be asking when they're looking for care management software?

[03:00]

Anoushka: So, first, let's just be clear on what care management software is, because I had a little stumble there at the beginning. Care management software encompasses quite a broad spectrum of software solutions. We've got your rostering systems, which are often classed as care management software, as well as your digital care planning solutions. Sometimes the misconception is that people think they've done what they need to do because they have a rostering system in place. That is actually a very important part of the journey, but only part of it. The rostering system is the piece of software that logistically manages your staff, gets your staff to their shifts or their visits, and manages the HR and the invoicing. But what happens after they arrive is what the digital care planning solution will look at. It will record and monitor what happens on the visit and, ultimately, the quality of care.

And to answer your initial question, what do we do with all of these different choices and how do we choose? Firstly, knowing the difference between the choices is the first step. But I also think it's really important to know that there are lots of flavours of digital care planning and rostering out there for a reason, because care isn't one-size-fits-all. We have so many different varieties of care settings, and not all care planning solutions are going to work for everyone, and not all rostering solutions are going to work for everyone either. So it's really great. We're very fortunate that we have so much to choose from, so care managers ought to take advantage of the vast choice we have and start asking the right questions if they're ready to make that leap.

Ask the possible software providers the questions. Make sure you trust that it's a resilient, robust piece of software. You don't want your system to break down or fail on you. Know that it's going to give you the types of reporting you require as a manager, the types of insight you want as a manager and the ease of use you want for your care workers. It needs to be something the entire business can get along with and partner with harmoniously, rather than it being an additional piece of work or added stress in any way, because that's actually counterproductive.

Helping care teams through change

Tobi: You just mentioned care managers and care workers. The big question is change. I know when we're implementing software in our company, and we're a digital company, there's always a bit of friction. How do you feel care staff actually feel about the change they'll have to go through?

[06:02]

Anoushka: Obviously change is a difficult thing. As human beings, we often find that change causes anxiety, and I think it's really important that we don't lose sight of why we're doing this. It's not to create additional work. One of the questions you should be asking your provider is about that change management piece. A good software provider will support the entire change management process, from implementation through to go-live and beyond, with ongoing support, so that your staff don't feel as if they're doing something new. It should be something that's actually assisting them to do what they do best, giving them more time to do what they do best and freeing up time they would normally spend on admin. So part of the responsibility for change management should be on the software provider, to really reassure the care manager and the staff that this shouldn't be causing any anxiety. It should be there to help you.

But also never lose sight of what the end goal is, because ultimately it's about improving the quality of care we're delivering and evidencing the great work of our care workers. Until we're actually able to show what they're doing and how they're delivering care, we're not able to monitor and make improvements to what's happening. Everybody's always concerned with proving to the regulator that they're doing a good job, and this is really the way to do that, because you can more efficiently, effectively and in a more sophisticated way show the information about what's happening.

Encouraging change across the sector

Tobi: Taking a step back, as a sector I feel there's another challenge where we're in changing times, as you said. How do you feel we can encourage change moving forward?

Anoushka: Technology is one of those things, and as I said before, the CQC in particular have made some strong efforts to move towards change. I think it's important to recognise that they are promoting that change, and evidencing is a big part of that, for them to be able to see that we can aggregate lots of data, show reports and provide a greater level of transparency. That's important for us to move forward, because we can't move forward unless we see where we're at, so data is important for that.

Changing the sector is a tricky one, because I think we all recognise that there are a number of things that need to change in the sector, but the issue is, and I'll be careful how I put this, I think that if we're constantly attacking or resisting the issues, we're not actually moving forwards. A number of years have gone by and we're still talking about some of the same issues. But I do think we're in a period of change right now, and I'm quite optimistic that things are changing and people have the right energy. There are lots of individual change initiatives going on, and combined efforts can really make that change possible.

Tobi: There's a great video on embracing change, which I had us watch as a team: Who Moved My Cheese? It was originally a book, and it's a great book. We can link the animated version on YouTube to this episode, and everyone should watch it. It will change your perspective. I don't want to explain it, because the video does it better, but if you're ever concerned about change, or you've always done something a certain way, watch that video. It will make you reflect and realise that we've always got to be pushing forward, and there's always a different way of doing something.

[10:01]

Anoushka: Yes, and with social care as it is now, and the number of change initiatives we have going on, the only reason we're beginning to see some change happen is because we're all combining our efforts. I think that's a really important point. It's not any one of these things alone. The CARE badge is one of those change initiatives. There are a number of others: the recruitment campaign from the Department of Health and Social Care, really trying to drive awareness that social care is a great place to work. The rest of the world seems to know that, but most of the UK doesn't seem to know it yet, and these sorts of initiatives are what's driving that awareness. Then there are charities like The Care Workers' Charity that are driving the positive message and supporting care workers, alongside other organisations raising awareness around illnesses like dementia, such as Alzheimer's Society and Dementia Friends. All of these things support putting social care on the map, and I think it's a combined effort that will do that. But resisting and attacking the issues, I don't think that's the way forward. We need to stop focusing on the negative and focus on the positive.

The CARE badge

Tobi: It's good you touched on that, and it would be wrong of me not to ask, because you're behind the CARE badge movement. What do you say to the naysayers who ask whether the CARE badge is really going to make a difference?

Anoushka: We expected we'd have some sceptics. It's a badge, and it doesn't appear to be doing anything on its own. But as I've just said, it's the combination of all of our efforts that will make this happen. I'm really pleased to say that almost a year in, we have almost 100,000 badges in circulation, so those naysayers are a minority. Resisting and attacking, again, isn't really pushing us forwards. But if we're shoulder to shoulder, wearing our badges, supporting care and having pride in what we do, with national recruitment campaigns showing that it's a great place to work and other great organisations lobbying for a better, stronger voice for care in the political arena, it's that whole combined effort that will actually push against these boundaries. It's only together that we can break through them.

Tobi: It brings unity as well. I remember when I was on a train from Liverpool Street on the way home and I saw someone wearing a CARE badge. It wasn't as visible at the time, but I kind of felt like going up to them. There's the NHS logo, and now there's the CARE badge that people can recognise.

Anoushka: Not even a year in, the CARE badge has got some identity, and the care sector has an identity with this badge, and I think it will just continue to grow. We just need to keep doing what we're doing, and that means every single organisation working towards change. We all need to be doing this to support one another, rather than highlighting the issues around care. Obviously we still need to be aware of the issues, but leaning into the positives is the only way we push past them.

Cameron: That is brilliant. So if anyone wants to reach out to you, from a CARE badge perspective or about everyLIFE, what's the best way?

[13:01]

Anoushka: LinkedIn, Twitter, the everyLIFE Technologies website, where you can email us through the contact us page, and pretty much all the events that are going on at the moment. We're out and about. As I say, my role is market engagement, and one of the things we like to do as a business is be out there speaking to you, because it's important for us to engage with the care sector so that we understand what the issues are and can build that into our product. It informs the whole of our business, and we feel that the more connected we are to you, the more connected we are to doing the right things for our product and our business.

Cameron: That's good. We'll put all those links in the show notes so everyone can find them nicely set out. That's everything for today, so thank you very much, everyone, for watching, and we'll see you in the next Tea with Tobi.

Tobi: See you next week.