industry & policy
Steady those platforms
Reforms and disruption can bring positive change to a sector, but recent digital innovations in delivery of social care have suffered from poor implementation.
By Carrie Hayter
Web-based platforms and digital reform are playing a key role in the personalisation of social care for older people and people with disability in Australia. Advances such as web-based information platforms( designed by government and some providers), digital intermediaries( web-based services connecting service users with potential support workers) and online discussion forums are changing the relationship between people who use social care, disability and aged-care services and the government. However, problems with the launch of web-based platforms – including My Aged Care, and the National Disability Insurance Scheme’ s( NDIS) Myplace portals for providers and participants – raise questions about the government’ s awareness of the transformation required by all actors in the social care system to implement such reforms.
DIGITAL DISRUPTION IN SOCIAL CARE The idea of disruptive technology or disruptive innovation was developed by Clayton Christensen in 1997. These terms describe how technology can alter the status quo, leading to the development of new products and services that change industries or markets. For example, the emergence of Uber and Airbnb has disrupted the transport and hotel industries across Western countries. Often referred to as digital intermediaries, these companies connect people to services via online platforms and tend to have lower transaction costs than traditional competitors.
In social care, examples of digital disruption may include the development of platforms to hire staff, service users sharing skills and knowledge via social media, as well as web-based access and funding platforms such as My Aged Care, The Carer Gateway and the NDIS’ s Myplace portals. The emergence of digital intermediaries that connect people using social care with staff( for example, Better Caring and Hire Up) may disrupt the frontline worker market in social care. Rather than work for a provider, support workers operate as sole traders, managing their own work and relationships through online platforms and connections with people with disabilities. Similarly, online social care user groups on social media provide opportunities to share experiences and lessons in how users can make the system work for them. Additionally, web-based portals have disrupted providers and service users. People using social care have to learn how to navigate these systems, as do providers, who have had to transform their business processes, systems and staff skills to accommodate changing systems.
EMPOWERING PEOPLE WHO USE SOCIAL CARE The rise of individualised funding in social care could lead to an increasing role for online platforms that provide access to information and resources for people using this care. The emergence of online marketplaces where older people, people with disabilities and their allies search for support workers may empower people using social care. These business models are designed to provide flexibility and choice, where people can pick who supports them and at what times. However, there are questions about how workers are vetted on these platforms, particularly from service providers. Furthermore, some research has identified the potential for professional deskilling and a decline in pay and conditions for support workers in social care with individualised funding systems. The issues highlight important questions about how people choose who supports them, as well as the mechanisms to ensure that support workers are appropriately qualified and paid in a deregulated market.
People are connecting via social media, sharing insights about how to make the social care system work for them. Some users of social care have created online petitions to highlight inequities in the social-care system, providing a voice to express issues and concerns.
While social media can be a friend of people who use social care, it can also be a foe if people don’ t have access to the internet; there are still people for whom this is a struggle. It is important that the government consider strategies to promote access. Furthermore, it is important to consider that some people prefer face-to-face contact.
PROVIDERS’ EXPERIENCES WITH MY AGED CARE AND NDIS MYPLACE PORTALS The launch of My Aged Care and the NDIS Myplace provider and participant portals poses serious questions about the understanding of the depth of transformation needed in the use of online technology in social care in Australia. The launch of My Aged Care from July 1, 2015, across NSW, Queensland and South Australia, posed many challenges for all stakeholders in the aged-care system. The number of older people and their carers who contacted My Aged Care far exceeded expectations. Many older people and their allies potentially missed out on accessing
16 agedcareinsite. com. au