Online tool will ‘revolutionise’ social care recruitment

Shared Lives Plus and Design Integrity have teamed up to revolutionise local councils’ Shared Lives schemes’ carer recruitment process through a new digital platform.

The online tool, which moves the recruitment and robust assessment process for Shared Lives carers away from paperwork-based methods to a mix of online and face-to-face interactions comes at a critical time as the government recently announced a new health and social care tax across the UK.

Design Integrity, which has worked with Shared Lives Plus since 2018 to deliver a new public-facing brand identity and online strategy, believes that the platform has the potential to modernise the social care sector with a more interactive and agile approach to carer recruitment without losing its interpersonal qualities.

This will come as a benefit to councils as they continue to recruit more Shared Lives carers on a daily basis, all while providing more access to an increasing of number potential carers online.

Director of development at Shared Lives Plus Jayne Wilson said: ‘By creating an online recruitment portal and assessment process we have adapted a lengthy six-month application process to around six weeks, while still maintaining the high-quality standards Shared Lives services are recognised for.’

As part of the project, Design Integrity provided an accessible user experience and branded interface to make the Shared Lives carer application process an attractive digital proposition, while retaining the personal aspect of the assessment. What traditionally was achieved through office-based provisions now places greater emphasis on face-to-face meetings, supported by online calls with a simplified digital means of working. 

Founder and creative director at Design Integrity Stephen Murray said: ‘Successfully executing this digital initiative during lockdown has been a brilliantly rewarding piece of work for our studio and I’m incredibly proud of the team.

‘The impact of the pandemic has accelerated the need for digital processes in the workplace and a tool such as this can be adapted to a multitude of purposes that improve productivity and quality of relationships in a modern world driven by technology.’

Moving forward, Design Integrity will work with Shared Lives Plus to provide them with phase two of the project, which will involve a learning platform for existing and new carers to develop professionally within their roles. 

Photo Credit – We Are Pink ltd