1. The Socio-Technical Challenge of Caring for the Elderly at Home: A Diagnosis Without a Design Solution
Ken Eason
Emeritus Professor, Loughborough Design School, Loughborough University, UK
Senior Consultant, The Bayswater Institute,
London UK

2. The Need and the Problem
There are growing numbers of:
Vulnerable elderly people at home
People with long-term conditions at home
who may need complex health and social care
The Problem
In England Health and Social Care are separate services and support is
offered through many different agencies
We need integrated person/client/patient-centred care but we get…
Fragmented and uncoordinated services
Difficulties organising care packages
Carers not knowing what others know or are doing
Unnecessary admissions to hospital
Difficulties getting out of hospital (‘bed blocking’)
People being treated as specific health cases rather than as human beings

3. Programme
Introduction: A Diagnosis of the Socio-Technical Problem – 30 minutes
Group Work: Searching for Solutions – 30 minutes
Review and Conclusions
– 30 minutes

4. Who is involved in health and social care?
Friends
Voluntary Organisations
Family
Mental
Health
Patient/Client
Carers
Hospital
Specialists
Community Nurses
Social
Workers
Ambulance
Services
General
Practitioners
Health
Services
Accident
and Emergency
Police
Social
Services

5. What people ask for To stay in their homes as long as possible
To be kept safe at home
To continue to make a contribution, self-manage their conditions and be independent
To have a stable source of care that understands them
To have a single route to specialist care when it is necessary

6. Aims and Issues
The Aim: To create a sociotechnical system that delivers person-centric, integrated health and social care.
Issues: The system that delivers care:
Needs to be different for each person (different conditions)
Uses resources from different agencies (different goals, systems etc)
Uses resources from non-co-located agencies
Needs to include a relevant role for the patient (family etc)
Needs to cope with changing needs in the short term and the long term (‘stepping up’ and ‘stepping down’)

7. Citizen Care Journey

8. Searching for Solutions
Our Group Aims:
To outline socio-technical system solutions that would provide person-centred integrated health and social care for vulnerable people living at home
To utilise any solutions being used/developed in other countries
To identify key issues in the process of developing these solutions (getting from here to there)
To articulate the socio-technical principles and processes that might inform these developments