Housing and Papering Over the Cracks in the Welfare State

This blog is based on an article in the Social Policy and Society by Vikki McCall, Steve Rolfe, Grant Gibson, Regina Serpa and Julia Lawrence. Click here to access the article.

The INVITE project (Promoting INclusive liVing vIa Technology-Enabled Support) has been investigating how assistive and everyday technologies can be implemented in the social housing sector to improve quality of life and sustain inclusive communities. Through this longitudinal mixed methods study, which was conducted between 2020 and 2022, we gained insights into how tenants and people working in housing organisations are ‘papering over the cracks’ of the welfare state. In an era of increasing precarity, we saw housing support activity – such as providing technology to support health, wellbeing and independence – try and fill gaps left by the retreating welfare state.

We offer the findings in our new open access paper in Social Policy and Society, which will be a part of an exciting new themed section led by the SPA Housing Policy Group. The new paper notes that housing associations have a key role in supporting tenants with technology, but we have to view this in the light of an extension of responsibility around health and social care, and the ongoing ‘responsibilisation’ of social policy outcomes to social landlords and tenants. 

Precarity has a symbiotic relationship with responsibilisation

The paper highlights the overall level of precarity we saw in terms of health and social care support, especially for older people. This came out via different layers of precarity in housing support provision: individual precarity with health; precarity of front-line service provision, availability of support and organisational-level precarity in terms of providing essential but often short-term solutions. The funding mechanisms supporting tenants are short term, and staff have challenges around capacity to support the evolving and diverse needs of tenants that are outwith the ‘traditional’ role of housing providers. We saw clear indication that housing services are responsibilised into providing essential welfare state functions, for example helping people access their pensions, do their shopping or access their GP, or support managing a health crisis.  

Despite all of these challenges, our research shows the significant impacts that can be achieved through technology-enabled support. The research was led by the University of Stirling in partnership with Stonewater Housing Association and funded by the Longleigh Foundation, and we explored how technology can maximise opportunities to support residents to live well and safely.  The main project outcomes of the INVITE project include:

• We need to rethink how we understand and approach technology. Both high and low-level technology solutions (which we also call gadgets, equipment and/or items) are part of the important jigsaw of support for residents and front-line staff.
• Some of the smaller items – such as jar openers, or 1-button kettles – had the largest impact on health, wellbeing, and quality of life.
• Co-production is a key element of generating impactful, person centred solutions in terms of promoting inclusive living.
• All housing organisations should have a ‘bits and bobs’ fund to be able to get support for key day-to-day activities such as eating and drinking to people faster.

All the academic evidence is set out in a key report on the Stonewater INVITE webpages.

Supporting residents and front-line staff

What was clear from the INVITE project is that people often are unsure about what is out there in terms of help and support with everyday challenges. Put simply: 

People do not know what they don’t know

Front-line housing staff, family and carers are key contributors to understanding need, building trust in technology and gadgets, and facilitating solutions. Staff involved in the project showed their enthusiasm, as they had seen these gadgets make a difference in people’s lives. The evidence suggests that social housing providers can be nimble and innovative, with wider choice in what they do, and can provide the space for co-produced approaches (overcoming more rigid commissioning arrangements and service delivery linked to other sectors). 

The project was funded by the Longleigh Foundation, who have an explicit remit to support positive impact for social housing tenants. They noted:

“At Longleigh, we are incredibly proud to have funded the INVITE Project and are delighted by its tremendous success! The exploration of how assistive and everyday technologies can enhance life in Retirement Living settings has confirmed what some of us may have, and perhaps many of us didn’t know – technology, even at the most simplistic level can significantly improve our daily lives and overall wellbeing.

 This project has evidenced the positive impact of technology and the true value of co-production. We enjoyed witnessing an inclusive approach to this project, as Prof Vikki McCall involved customers, carers, families, and staff to gain a complete picture without making any assumptions, which mirrors our core approach to grant-making at Longleigh – a great partnership in sync.”

 (Charlene Grant, Head of Communications, Longleigh Foundation)

Using social policy research to make impact 

We feel the project has been a great example of how we in the world of social policy can make a wide variety of impact, and the project has generated some key support tools such as training videos to help service users understand the impact and wellbeing of technology and outline different challenges and solutions.

Furthermore, we introduced a new game to help facilitate technology solutions via a picture-based card deck, that was created hand-in-hand with the games and graphic designers at Socialudo. The ‘serious game’ is called the Technology INVITE Challenge – Tic-Tech Match. The name of the game is to read out the ‘Challenge’ card. These challenges correspond with the evidence gathered and case studies in the INVITE report. Customers, staff and people involved can, often with some humour, explore and put forward solutions to different and shared challenges around gardening, doors, mobility, memory and more. These cards are an excellent tool for facilitating interaction and knowledge exchange about gadget solutions as well as the health and wellbeing impact of technology. 

Overall, technology that was seen as well-designed was the most popular, that people could integrate into their day to day lives. This helps overcome barriers to using technology as there is a clear need for extra support to be able to use devices and software more effectively. 

“Access to information is undoubtedly one of the greatest advantages of technology. The small things identified through the INVITE project not only had a positive impact on our customers lives, but its research enables technological development. Not just for us now, but our future generations.

Staff customers and our volunteers are excited to be a part of this next stage of the project knowing the difference these `bits and bobs` make. We’re all looking forward to playing the `Tic Tech Match’ challenge! It’s interactive and lots of fun!”

Linda Rayfield, Wellbeing and Community Capacity Delivery Manager, Stonewater Housing Association

Evidence from this project suggests that some forms of technology, combined with support to adopt and utilise it effectively, can support residents’ ability to feel at home and mitigate some aspects of precarity. The INVITE project shows how different welfare activities interrelate, with housing organisations having a key role as facilitators due to the proximity and availability of people at the front-line. 

However, this needs longer term investment and priority in social policy if it is to work in the future, as what is evolving is a dangerously balanced support system based on short-term funding. With the welfare state retreating further, we need to think about and prioritise support for people as they are growing older. What we show in this project very clearly is that even the small things can make a big impact!

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About the authors

Vikki McCall is Professor at the University of Stirling.

Steve Rolfe is Lecturer at the University of Stirling.

Grant Gibson is Senior Lecturer at the University of Stirling.

Regina Serpa is Lecturer at the University of Stirling.

Julia Lawrence is Project Coordinator at the University of Stirling.