Redefining Professionalism in Disability Services: Digital Transformation, Boundary Work, and Professional Capital in Frontline Care During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

TL;DR

During the pandemic, care workers for adults with intellectual disabilities adapted to digital tools, which changed their professional roles and created new challenges in maintaining traditional caregiving values.

Contribution

The study introduces a new perspective on how digital transformation impacts professional identity and boundary work in frontline disability care during crises.

Findings

Digital technologies enabled increased digital competence, peer collaboration, and creative agency among frontline staff.

Staff experienced tensions between digitally mediated practices and values tied to co-presence and relational care.

Organisational support is needed to sustain constructive digital practices by involving staff and service users in technology use.

Abstract

During the COVID‐19 pandemic, frontline care workers in day centre services for adults with intellectual disabilities rapidly adapted their roles through use of digital technologies. This study examines how these developments shaped professional roles and identities.

The study draws on qualitative interviews with 14 frontline staff and 5 managers in day centres that shifted from on‐site to remote services. Thematic analysis was guided by the concepts of boundary work and professional capital.

Digitalisation temporarily reshaped professional identity by enabling increased digital competence, peer collaboration, and creative agency. Staff experienced tensions between digitally mediated practices and values tied to co‐presence, embodied interaction, and relational care.

Digitalisation created both opportunities and strains in frontline care work. Sustaining constructive digital practices will require organisational support that recognises frontline workers' expertise, integrates digital competence with reflective professional development, and involves staff and service users in shaping how technologies are used.

During the COVID‐19 pandemic, frontline care staff working in day centre services for adults with intellectual disabilities rapidly shifted to digital ways of working, which temporarily changed how they carried out and understood their professional roles.Digital technology enabled staff to maintain contact with service users, collaborate with colleagues, and experiment with new forms of support.At the same time, staff experienced tensions between remote, technology‐mediated practices and core caregiving values such as co‐presence, embodied interaction, and relational attentiveness.To make constructive use of digital technologies in day centre services, organisations need to provide ongoing support that strengthens staff's digital and reflective skills and ensures that both staff and service users can influence how digital technologies are introduced and used.

During the COVID‐19 pandemic, frontline care staff working in day centre services for adults with intellectual disabilities rapidly shifted to digital ways of working, which temporarily changed how they carried out and understood their professional roles.

Digital technology enabled staff to maintain contact with service users, collaborate with colleagues, and experiment with new forms of support.

At the same time, staff experienced tensions between remote, technology‐mediated practices and core caregiving values such as co‐presence, embodied interaction, and relational attentiveness.

To make constructive use of digital technologies in day centre services, organisations need to provide ongoing support that strengthens staff's digital and reflective skills and ensures that both staff and service users can influence how digital technologies are introduced and used.