Digital readiness of the in-home aged care workforce: A latent profile analysis

The use of technology could potentially improve the quality of in-home aged care and reduce staff workload. However, there is a lack of research into the digital readiness of the in-home aged care workforce. This study aimed to identify the distinct digital readiness profiles of Australian in-home aged care staff and the demographic characteristics associated with each profile.

A cross-sectional study was conducted at an Australian national in-home aged care provider between May and August 2023, recruiting aged care staff from services in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. Data regarding participants' demographic characteristics, personal technology use, digital literacy and attitude towards using technology in in-home aged care were collected. Latent profile analysis and Fisher's exact test were conducted for data analysis.

In total, 267 participants completed this study. Three digital readiness profiles (higher, medium and lower) were identified. The largest subgroup was participants with medium digital readiness (64%), followed by participants with higher digital readiness (24%) and lower digital readiness (12%), respectively. Age group (p = .003), education level (p = .03) and role (p = .009) were found to be associated with the digital readiness profile.

Three distinct profiles of digital readiness were identified in the Australian in-home aged care workforce. A small but substantial proportion of the workforce had lower digital readiness and may require targeted support to improve their preparedness to use technology in delivering in-home aged care services.