Information School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
Durham University Business School, Durham, United Kingdom.
J Med Internet Res. 2024 Oct 24;26:e60056. doi: 10.2196/60056.
Globally, populations are aging, generating concerns about the sustainability of health and social care provision. In terms of the public provision of social care in particular, unpaid carers provide much of the support to people with disabilities and older people. In addition, there is an increased onus in many countries on digital transformation projects, in the hope that the digitalization of services can create efficiencies and savings in both costs and care labor. In England, the focus of this paper, the shift to digital services is also framed as a means to enhance choice and control for older unpaid carers, while being part of a broader offering that includes nondigital alternatives and support to mitigate digital exclusion.
This study examines the impact of digitalization on older, unpaid carers-a group more likely to be both expected to engage digitally with services and at risk of digital exclusion-in England, focusing on their lived experiences in terms of caring and access to social care.
We used a constructionist approach to thematic analysis, where data from 48 older unpaid carers collected through focus groups were analyzed using thematic analysis, resulting in 4 prevailing themes.
Our findings indicated that while unpaid carers largely acknowledge the benefits of digitalization, they also highlight several points of failure, whereby engagement with digital spaces is experienced as coercive and exacerbates feelings of exclusion. These are further worsened by government failures to address issues of connectivity, imposing additional financial burdens and complicating tasks such as benefit applications.
In this study, we have highlighted the need for greater involvement in shaping both policy and technological solutions, which in turn will be more inclusive and aligned to the aspirations and circumstances of older carers.
在全球范围内，人口老龄化问题日益严重，人们对医疗和社会保健服务的可持续性产生了担忧。特别是在公共提供社会关怀方面，无薪护工为残疾人和老年人提供了大部分支持。此外，许多国家都更加重视数字化转型项目，希望通过服务数字化能够提高效率并节省成本和护理劳动力。在本文的研究对象英格兰，向数字服务的转变也被视为增强老年无薪护工选择权和控制权的一种手段，同时也是更广泛服务的一部分，其中包括非数字替代方案和减轻数字排斥的支持。
本研究考察了数字化对老年无薪护工的影响——这一群体更有可能期望与服务进行数字化互动，并且面临数字排斥的风险——在英格兰，重点关注他们在护理和获得社会关怀方面的生活体验。
我们使用了建构主义方法进行主题分析，通过焦点小组收集了 48 名老年无薪护工的数据，并使用主题分析进行了分析，得出了 4 个主要主题。
我们的研究结果表明，尽管无薪护工普遍认识到数字化的好处，但他们也强调了一些失败点，即与数字空间的互动被体验为强制性的，并加剧了排斥感。这些问题因政府未能解决联网问题而进一步恶化，给他们带来了额外的经济负担，并使福利申请等任务变得更加复杂。
在本研究中，我们强调了需要更多地参与塑造政策和技术解决方案，这反过来又将更加包容，并符合老年护工的愿望和情况。
