The UK Government aims to support the social care sector as it faces a ‘quiet revolution’ thanks to new technologies.
That will be the message when Michelle Dyson CB, Director General of Adult Social Care for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), speaks at King’s next week.
"This progress is crucial to delivering immediate, tangible improvements in care, as well as longer term transformation, empowering people to live independently, and have genuine choice and control over their care," she added.
The Director General is delivering the 2025 Institute of Gerontology Lecture, with a presentation called ‘New ways to support older people: the role of technology in social care’.
The Lecture will be hosted in collaboration with the Gateway to Global Aging Data.
Director of the Institute of Gerontology, Dr Wei Yang said technology had a huge role to play in helping a social care sector coming under increasing strain.
She said: “The population in England is getting older, and the number of people drawing on care and support is forecast to double over the next 20 years. But the nature of that support is changing too. Care is now much more likely to involve technology, from sensors to detect falls, to clocks that provide reminders, and devices that manage medication.
“Even the way care records are managed is being revolutionised, with 84% of people drawing on formal care now benefiting from digitised records.”
In her lecture, Ms Dyson will consider the implications of these changes, addressing key questions about the role of technology in social care, its impact on the care workforce, and how formal care services should integrate with the NHS, local communities, and families to provide more effective support.
The event is being held at the Science Gallery at King’s College London and promises to be a thought-provoking discussion on the future of ageing, care, and technology.
Ms Dyson has been the Director General of Adult Social Care in the Department of Health and Social Care since September 2020. As the top civil servant leading on adult social care, she is responsible for advising Ministers on policy, for delivering reform into the adult social care system and for operational oversight of the existing adult social care system.
Prior to this she worked as a senior civil servant in different roles in the Ministry of Justice, Department for Work and Pensions, and Department for Education, always with a focus on social policy and its delivery, particularly as regards disadvantaged groups.
