What are the next generation of homecare services going to look like and how homecare support people in communities to thrive at home? These questions and more are addressed in the Northern Ireland Social Care Council’s next episode of ‘Care to Chat’.
The future of homecare in Northern Ireland is an important discussion to have right now as the population in Northern Ireland ages, requiring more complex care in the community and more families are facing the reality of a loved one requiring care.
At the same time our health and social care system is transforming through the Department of Health’s Reset Plan and move to a Neighbourhood model of care. This will mean shifting services from hospitals to local communities, with social care, in particular homecare (which some people know as domiciliary care), becoming a vital vehicle for this change. A move towards personalised, person-centred, tech-enabled support at home might sound futuristic – but many say it is already happening.
Social care innovators and thought leaders talk alongside frontline social care practitioners who are the heart of the sector – all experts along the care continuum. All focused on working together to improve homecare for everyone.
What brings people to social care has not changed – people need support and can see what a fulfilling career it can be with lots of opportunities for development. At the same time, the delivery of social care, family supports and the technology available are changing.
With all this in mind, Connected Health’s Ryan Williams shared his hopes for the future for homecare.
“We’ve made great progress in the last ten years and what I would say is where we have sustainable mutual respect, we make progress and when we forget the basic principle we don’t. There is no private, non-profit and public sector in this there is just the ecology of homecare.”
This podcast episode complements the ‘Social care – Making a difference’ campaign, an annual campaign which encourages people to consider social care as a career of choice and recognises the value of the social care workforce.
‘Care to chat’ releases a new episode every fortnight, discussing current topics about social care and social work regulation in Northern Ireland. Listen to ‘Care to chat’ wherever you find your favourite podcasts including Apple, Spotify, or on our website at: niscc.info/care-to-chat-podcast, where you can find all the new episodes and episodes from our previous series.
Episode 2: The future of homecare (44 minutes)
For more information:
As the Care to chat podcasts are designed with the social care and social work workforce in mind, we would like to invite suggestions of topics that our listeners would be interested to hear covered. If you have questions, suggestions or feedback about the podcast, email: comms@niscc.hscni.net.