Skip to content
a young man with cerebral palsy sitting using touch screen computer

Digital Care: roles, risks, realities and rewards

Exploring how digital technology, care and caring relationships intersect and interact.

Technology has long been a part of caring arrangements and networks, facilitating the organisation of support, connections between people and services, and helping with some key tasks. Technology is changing fast, as devices and systems advance at a rapid rate, and previously dominant ‘telecare’ and  ‘technology enabled care services’ models (often using analogue telephone lines) are being redesigned in response to the ‘digital switchover’.

New developments include growing deployment of artificial intelligence, robotics and ‘internet of things’ devices in care. These changes have implications for how care and support are experienced and provided. 

Our research asks:

  • What digital technologies are being used in care. How and why is this happening?
  • Do these developments bring new opportunities, barriers, benefits and risks?
  • Do digital technologies support wellbeing outcomes in care – and if so, for whom, and in what circumstances?
  • What are the social justice and equality implications of these developments? Who benefits? Who is exposed to risk?
  • How does digital technology affect care relationships, the paid work of care and employment dynamics? 
  • How do users of digital devices configure or ‘tinker’ with these technologies to produce outcomes that matter to them?

Commentary and updates on Digital Care

Pieces relating to Digital Care: roles, risks, realities and rewards

Recent Publications

A selection of recent publications from the Digital Care: roles, risks, realities and rewards team.

Members

The Digital Care: roles, risks, realities and rewards team is led by Professor Kate Hamblin at the University of Sheffield.

Kate Hamblin profile picture
Kate Hamblin Director
Grace Whitfield profile picture
Grace Whitfield Researcher, University of Sheffield

Projects linked to Digital Care

In addition to projects funded by the ESRC and NIHR through the Centre for Care, members of the Digital Care theme have collaborated on several  projects related to digital exclusion supported by the Crook Public Service Fellowship and Research England Higher Education Innovation Funding.

Digital exclusion and unpaid carers in South Yorkshire

With Crook Public Service Fellowships and the ESRC funding and in collaboration with Centre for Care Associates Dr Efpraxia Zamani (Business School, Durham University), Dr Laura Sbaffi (Information School, University of Sheffield), Dr Rachael Black (Knowledge Exchange Lead, University of Sheffield), Prof Kate Hamblin (Centre for Care and CIRCLE, University of Sheffield) examined the experience of digital exclusion by unpaid carers in the South Yorkshire region: https://centreforcare.ac.uk/publications/digital-exclusion-report-2023/

Digital Poverty in South Yorkshire

With Research England funding, Dr Efpraxia Zamani (Durham University Business School) and Dr Sara Vannini (Information School, University of Sheffield) developed an online heatmap of the South Yorkshire region that helps identify and analyse pockets of digital poverty. The Centre of Care supported the expansion and updating of this online tool with data pertaining to unpaid care.

https://sheffield-university.shinyapps.io/Digital-Poverty

Digitalisation of Social Care and the Implications for Older Unpaid Carers 

This project was a knowledge-exchange collaboration between the Universities of Sheffield and Durham, Carers UK and the Good Things Foundation, funded by HEIF, with the objective to identify the implications of the digitalisation of care for unpaid carers. Summary policy reports have been produced by Dr Anastasia Rousaki (IMPACT, University of Sheffield), Dr Laura Sbaffi (Information School, University of Sheffield), Dr Efpraxia Zamani (Durham University Business School), Prof Kate Hamblin (Centre for Care and CIRCLE, University of Sheffield) and Dr Rachael Black (Knowledge Exchange Lead, University of Sheffield). 

Click here to read the report

Click here to read summary of findings

Click here to read summary of findings (Easy Read version)

Click here to read executive summary (Easy Read version)