The role of IoT in the future of adult social care

Guest blog by Martin Taylor, Co-Founder and Deputy CEO at Content Guru #LocalGovTransformation

Martin Taylor

Co-Founder and Deputy CEO, Content Guru

Councils are facing an increasingly difficult challenge: pressure to reduce costs while maintaining support quality for an ageing population. Demand for adult social care is growing rapidly, yet budgets remain under strain.

In 2024-25, local authorities spent £29.4 billion in 2024-25 on adult social care, a 9% increase from the previous year. Among people aged 65 and over, the largest expenditure was on residential care, costing £5 billion (41%), meanwhile, the average hourly cost of external care home provision rose by 7% since 2023. According to the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), 81% of councils were expected to overspend their adult social care budgets this year, with a total forecasted overspend of £564 million.

Adult social care is the single largest item in most councils’ budgets, and also forms part of councils’ statutory responsibilities. Therefore, the only choice councils have is how to deliver services to meet this demand. Current financial pressures underscore the need for innovative solutions that help older adults live safely and independently for longer.

The rise of IoT-enabled care

Non-medical Technology Enabled Care (TEC), including Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices, such as remote health monitoring and predictive alert systems, is offering a path forward. The NHS 10-Year Plan emphasises digital transformation across healthcare, specifically remote patient monitoring in the form of “online hospitals”, which allow patients to receive inpatient-level care at home. Local authorities can adopt similar models for passive room monitoring, using IoT devices to help prevent or delay the need for residential placements and allow citizens to remain within their communities.

This approach aligns with findings from the 2024 “What Older People Want” Report, commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government, which found that many older adults prefer to remain in their current homes, a concept often referred to as “ageing in place” by the National Institute on Ageing (NIA). Doing so depends on maintaining safety, independence, and access to support: areas where IoT can have a profound impact.

So, how can local authorities look to benefit from IoT and TEC in social care settings?

How IoT is transforming ageing in place

Technologies such as IoT were identified almost a decade ago as having the potential to enable older people to remain autonomous, independent, safe and well at home. IoT systems in a homecare setting can provide continuous, unobtrusive monitoring, such as temperature monitors, water leak detectors, and smart medication pillboxes. For example, if a sensor detected a lack of movement in a room for a set time period, it could trigger an automated call, which could then be escalated to an alarm receiving centre or an emergency contact, initiating a home visit.

Each elderly or vulnerable adult can be represented by multiple IoT devices, which send a constant stream of information via passive monitoring that, when combined, offer a rich picture of an individual’s wellbeing. However, without proper coordination, this data can quickly become overwhelming. Data orchestration is important to coordinate these devices into a coherent stream.

A Customer Data Platform (CDP) can aggregate and interpret IoT data across multiple devices and homes, linking it to individuals known to a local authority. The CDP creates a single, real-time view of each citizen’s situation, and also contains an event listener which triggers the right action for a given situation and resident. This dynamic system of action enables local authorities to prioritise resources and respond more efficiently to individual needs.

From reactive to preventive care

Outdated, legacy solutions rely on manual alert mechanisms and are unable to integrate with wider care systems. In comparison, IoT enabled TEC shifts this approach by delivering real-time insights that support the preventative “ageing in place” care desired by so many older citizens, turning reactive care into proactive prevention.

For local authorities, the result is a win-win: The elderly person gets to live a more independent life in the setting they prefer, while councils reduce costly care admissions and free up resources for those with more complex needs.

As demand for adult social care continues to rise, IoT TEC offers a practical and scalable route to balance compassion with cost-efficiency: empowering citizens to live safely and independently for longer.

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