The turnover rate of social care staff is 28.5%, and as much as 34.4% for those in direct care roles. In addition, the daily stress of care work can contribute to absence through sickness. A Skills for Care survey showed that 94% employers believed that investing in effective learning and development supported retention.
CARLi App is an ambitious project to tackle social care retention by creating a support tool that improves learners’ emotional resilience as well as their practical skills.
Supporting staff to become resilient as part of that training helps them to cope better under pressure, as well as improving retention. The project recognises that job satisfaction is not only related to extrinsic factors but also to how individuals handle stress at work. Having to make difficult decisions can cause significant anxiety, particularly where staff members lack emotional and practical support.
The aim is to support retention in the social care sector and improve safe practice by means of a Progressive Web App (PWA). This will be a personalised tool that acts as a support system, connects the ‘learning journey’, is interactive, reflective, and enables staff to access critical information at the point of practice. It will also be used in conjunction with a ‘taught session’, providing a holistic, blended approach to learning.
If successful, the CARLi App has potential to be taken up by other sectors including mental health and dementia care.