NIHR “Technology-Enabled Social Care” Research Programme (UK)

This includes artificial intelligence prev(AI) or digital devices in the provision of social care and/or to support any aspect of the lives of adults or children with social care needs in the UK.

The call offers researchers considerable flexibility to focus on any subject area or topic providing that it falls within the remits of RPSC and the Technology-Enabled Social Care highlight notice. They particularly encourage research proposals into ambitious and novel uses of technology. This includes addressing new concepts and techniques and those with the potential for significant improvement to the lives of people with social care needs and/or economic impact, as well as developmental work potentially leading to such research.

The DHSC 10-year vision set out in People at the Heart of Care, published in 2021, focuses on three objectives for people who draw on formal care and support, their families, unpaid carers and the social care workforce:

• People have choice, control and support to live independent lives.
• People can access outstanding quality and tailored care and support.
• People find adult social care fair and accessible.

The amount awarded and the length of the funding period depends on the nature of the proposed work. Strong justification for the research duration and funding requested is required and will be considered by the reviewing committee. Value for money is an important criterion used by the funding committee.

Programme Objectives

• Objective 1 People have choice, control and support to live independent lives
  • Priority 1: community-based care models such as shared living arrangements.
  • Priority 2: supporting people to have greater control over their care options, such as by using digital tools to self-direct support or communicate needs and preferences.
  • Priority 3: investment in local area networks or communities to support prevention and promote wellbeing, enabling people to age well in their communities.
  • Priority 4: ways to support unpaid carers to have breaks which are tailored to their needs.
• Objective 2. People can access outstanding quality and tailored care and support
  • Priority 5: digital tools to support workforce recruitment and retention, for example through referral schemes.
  • Priority 6: develop and expand the impact of local volunteer-supported pathways for people drawing on care and support.
  • Priority 7: ways to conduct effective carers’ assessments with a focus on measuring outcomes and collaboration.
  • Priority 8: services that reach out to, and involve, unpaid carers through the discharge process.
• Objective 3. People find adult social care fair and accessible
  • Priority 9: digital workforce development and market shaping tools with capability to map, strengthen and grow local workforce capacity relative to system demand.
  • Priority 10: social prescribing to connect people with information, advice, activities and services in the community.
  • Priority 11: ways to better identify unpaid carers in local areas.
  • Priority 12: ways to encourage people to recognise themselves as carers and promote access to carer services.

Themes

• Themes of interest include but are not limited to:
  • Incorporating a technology-enabled care approach to support individuals with daily care needs to increase their independence around their physical living environment; this could include supporting self-paying individuals to make choices about their own social care goals or providing oversight/reassurance to their relatives/carers of their ongoing wellbeing. It could include proactive, prospective monitoring of physical health and mobility, and demonstrating the associated costs and benefits to all relevant stakeholders.
  • Using digital technology, AI and devices to address social care service provision to enable care workers or carers to spend greater time delivering face-to-face care across a range of environments.
  • Using digital technology, AI and devices to enable children supported by social care to transition to adult services smoothly whilst also providing opportunities to maintain connections with age-appropriate people safely.
  • Using digital technology to address areas of inequity in recipients of care funding e.g. digital inclusivity, service and information access and employment opportunities to support independence, confidence and dignity.

Eligibility Criteria

• They welcome ideas from new researchers including those with limited research experience such as early career researchers, but they must be supported by an experienced, strong, and multi-disciplinary team.
• They are keen to encourage collaborations with a range of organisations including small or medium enterprises (SMEs).
• The call is open to both existing and new digital technologies, AI and devices.

Assessment Criteria

• Applications can include both exploratory and more experiential studies.
• The research scope is broad, and therefore includes identification of barriers to the take up and utilisation of digital technology, AI and devices, and strategies to address these barriers. It also includes ways to reduce inequalities in care access using digital technologies, as well as studies looking at AI and devices in new/little used settings.
• Applications through the Research Programme for Social Care should have:
  • A clear pathway to social care benefit that could be immediate or over a longer-term.
  • A strong link with people who need or use social care, carers and organisations which provide social care services or other relevant groups.
  • An appropriate team, likely consisting of social care researchers, members of the social care workforce, carers, methodologists and people who use social care, reflecting the nature of the application.

For more information, visit NIHR.