The University is leading on an innovative new research project into how digital technologies can support young people in care.
The project, funded by a £600,000 social care innovation grant from the Department for Education (DfE), sees Kent working with the University of Portsmouth and two companies: Affective State and We Are Snook.
The project, entitled Exploring how technology can support traumatised young people in care to recognise, communicate and cope with strong emotions, and manage their behaviour more effectively, is being co-ordinated by the University’s Centre for Child Protection (CCP). It is expected to lead to the design of new products and a service proposal to help to support young people in care.
The project team will work with local authorities and organisations responsible for young people in care, including those who may have been abused and neglected. The researchers will work with these organisations to identify suitable young people for inclusion in the study.
The researchers will focus on gaining an understanding of the everyday challenges faced by the young people and how they currently use technology and digital services. They will then work with them to design potential new products to help the young people’s complex needs in the future.
An outline for a digital service design for the future for young people in care will then be scoped in preparation to take forward to a business plan. The findings will also be shared with the UK social care sector.
The DfE grant has been awarded to the same team, with the addition of Professor David Shemmings, which designed the interactive avatar prototype known as RITA (Responsive InTeractive Advocate). This project is looking at the potential of using an interactive avatar and machine learning to support older adults.