Supporting social care practice: Exploring the role of information and information systems in social care assessment

Systems development in social care has tended to focus on collecting management information and supporting administrative processes, creating few benefits for practitioners and a consequent reluctance for them to effectively engage with information technologies. This paper considers the findings from a recent case study which examined the role of information and information services in social care in England. It focuses on an analysis of assessment activity, and examines the tensions between the information needs of practice and those of the administrative processes within which it sits. The paper explores the opportunities and challenges that lie in developing systems that will support social care practice as well meeting administrative needs, and concludes that a better understanding of these issues will lead to more effective systems and better technologies of care.