Health and social care have always been points of major focus in both political and public life. However, the spotlight on these services has intensified recently as the government announced its plans to raise National Insurance payments to tackle the NHS backlog caused by the pandemic and address the entrenched issues in the social care system.
While this funding will be welcomed by many in the sector, focus will now likely turn to how this extra money will be spent and if it generates the best value for patients, staff and services.
Increasing staff numbers, and building more departments and care homes, are common ways that many think of when it comes to how money should be invested in health and social care services. These no doubt go some way to helping address challenges and alleviate pressure, but there are areas that often go unnoticed where changes can be made which would likely produce huge operational and financial benefits to the sector; one of these being the self-management of health and care.
Embracing the self-care solution
Advances in technology are making it increasingly easier for patients to take control and manage their health. As well as public tools like the NHS app, healthtech suppliers are producing platforms that are providing more freedom and personalised care to the public, helping them self-manage conditions such as diabetes or encourage exercise routines.
Increasing investment in digital self-management tools could help health and social care services save money and provide greater care. As such, developers need to be creating platforms that NHS and social care providers can easily adopt and which can also be operated by patients from various backgrounds and age groups.
Self-management solutions need to be accessible to as many people as possible, especially when it comes to health and social care. If they are not, it will mean that those who are unable to operate the platform could be left vulnerable, requiring further care and support. For example, less digitally savvy patients, such as the elderly, may not have the digital skills to navigate certain websites or apps, leading to them using the wrong service and potentially receiving incorrect guidance.
Access, engagement and navigation
To create accessible digital self-care tools, one of the key considerations has to be content design. The way that information is laid out, especially when it comes to health and social care where complex language and people of varying digital skills are common, needs to be accessible, engaging and easily navigable if they are going to improve the patient experience.
For example, in healthcare there can be many detailed, complicated terms and phrases that medical professionals can understand but patients may not be aware of or able to follow. A self-management solution that’s full of medical jargon may leave patients confused and lost, leaving them at risk of making a mistake or following the wrong advice. Developers need to ensure that the language their apps or platforms use is clear and simple, so that it can be understood by as broad an audience as possible.
As well as this, the content on self-help care platforms needs to keep users engaged so that they continue to use them. If an app is too text heavy or hard to navigate due to its layout, or perhaps if the links on it don’t go to the right place, patients will quickly grow tired of using them and simply revert to seeing a clinician to receive treatment. Giving patients multiple content formats, such as video, text and audio, while also providing them with simple and easy to use care platforms, will go a long way to guaranteeing a self-management tools’ use and longevity for both patients and services.
It is positive to see that health and social care is receiving the extra funding it needs to ensure services, staff and patients receive the support they need. However, it is important that this money is invested in the right way so as to provide maximum value for everyone. One way to do this is through the adoption of self-management platforms that allow people to support themselves and digital providers need to ensure that they are able to provide the UK’s health and social care sectors with apps and devices that can be easily used by services and patients alike. This is where content is king and through prioritising accessibility, navigability and engagement, care providers can ensure their platforms are helping create and sustain these vital services long into the future.
By Mark Picken, Managing Director, Content Design London
