Naick M
Quality in Ageing and Older Adults 2018, 19, 1: 31—41
Purpose
The provision of telecare for older adults in England is increasingly being facilitated by care navigators in the non-statutory sector. The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of care navigators when assessing older adults for telecare and to understand what contextual and organisational factors impact on their practice.
Design/methodology/approach
A purposeful sample of care navigators and telecare installers was selected. Care navigators were recruited from five non-statutory organisations. In order to provide an insight into telecare provision by this sector, telecare installers were also recruited. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 participants covering: role, training, assessment, reviews, installation, suitability, impact, aims, outcomes, and organisational structure. Interview data were analysed using the framework approach.
Findings
Five main themes emerged from the analysis: responsiveness, autonomy, knowledge exchange, evolving practice, and sustaining performance.