Coronavirus has posed unique challenges to the key workers providing care and those individuals receiving it, with social isolation and loneliness being major issues. The Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) winter plan for adult social care, heavily emphasises the benefits of implementing technology into a care setting to help prevent and control infection outbreaks. For example, technology can:

• Help identify symptoms of conditions, including COVID-19 in staff, residents and visitors
• Provide access to online training and learning resources
• Support in reducing movement and interaction
• Increase efficiency and save time, providing residents and staff with a better care experience
• Substitute for paper and other stationery, decreasing cross-contamination
• Create a more stable and safer work and living environment, appealing to staff and residents

Subsequently, care providers have been asked to “consider how technical or digital solutions may help them to protect the people they support from COVID-19 and connect them to their loved ones”.

To aid care providers in England with having better access to online resources, setting up virtual NHS consultations, reducing unnecessary visits and keeping their residents connected to loved ones, the Government is giving away 11,000 iPad tablets worth £7.5 million. They come equipped a twelve-month support plan, and for care homes without strong Wi-Fi facilities, SIM cards that have built-in internet access.