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BJSW Advance Access published online on March 17, 2009
British Journal of Social Work, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcp024
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved

The Informatization of Welfare: Older People and the Role of Digital Services

Michael Hardey and Brian Loader

Michael Hardey is a reader in sociology at the Hull York Medical School and the Department of Social Sciences, University of Hull. He has a long-standing research interest in mediated information, the role of the internet and delivery of welfare. He has recently been working on the role of Web 2.0 in health and social care. Brian Loader is a senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, University of York. His research involves community informatics and e-democracy, with a particular interest in welfare delivery and social movements. He is an editor of the journal Information Communication and Society.

Correspondence to Michael Hardey, Department of Social Science, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK. E-mail: Michael.Hardey{at}hyms.ac.uk


  Abstract

The informatisation of health and social care is a central element of the modernisation of welfare. This article seeks to understand how older people have been conceptualised during the complex process of informatisation. To do this an ideal type typology is used as a heuristic and way of engaging with the complexities of informatisation and policy changes. The typology gives rise to four models that are used to highlight the dilemmas and opportunities afford by different paths to the informatisation of health and care services. It is suggested that while informatisation may have facilitated the integration of services it has been accompanied by a marginalisation of older people as users. However, it is argued that the recent transition of the Web from version one (or Web 1.0) to a significant new version (or Web 2.0) and the consequent rise of user generated information may transform the role of the user in such systems.

Keywords: computer technology, information technology, older people, service integration, SAP, social policy


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