Adoption Isn’t Buy-In—Why Real Engagement Starts Before Go-Live

Hubert van Dalen
Jul 11
4 min read

Updated: Jul 15

“No matter how promising the technology, it won’t succeed unless the people using it, clients, carers, and staff, are willing, able, and supported to adopt it.”

In aged care, we often focus on the clinical value or technical setup of new technology. But adoption isn’t something that happens after implementation, it must be designed from the start.

This brings us to the fourth influence on sustainable tech adoption in aged and healthcare: The Adopter System. And it’s where many smart care projects falter, not due to poor tools, but due to unprepared people.

Domain 4: The Adopter System

This domain explores how technology fits into the lives, mindsets, and routines of the intended users, across three groups:

4A. Care staff and clinicians – Will they trust it, use it, and adapt workflows?
4B. Clients and end-users – Can they use it safely and consistently?
4C. Carers and loved ones – Are they supported and confident in its use?

Each of these groups brings different motivations, capabilities, and concerns. If even one group resists, or is left unsupported, adoption suffers.

What the NARI Framework Covers Well

The NARI Implementation Framework for Enabling Technology-Supported Aged Care at Home²recognises several enablers of successful adoption, including:

The importance of training and technical support
Consideration for digital literacy levels
The need to build trust through transparent communication
Acknowledging client experience and how technology fits into their daily routines

This attention to onboarding, usability, and perceived benefits is a strong starting point!

What the NARI Framework Does Not Cover (Adopter System Gaps)

There is no behavioural model to guide change. The NARI framework encourages training and support, but it lacks a behavioural framework for guiding people through the emotional and practical journey of adopting technology. A useful model to fill this gap is Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model, which includes: Creating urgency, Forming a strategic vision, and Sustaining acceleration. Adoption is not a linear rollout—it’s a cultural shift. Using a structured behavioural model helps ensure people understand, support, and stick with the change.
It doesn’t address professional scepticism or burnout. Care staff may be fatigued, under-resourced, or sceptical due to past tech failures. NARI doesn’t explore how to rebuild trust or protect staff wellbeing.
There’s no strategy for engaging informal carers. Carers often troubleshoot tech and absorb emotional fallout when things go wrong. It overlooks how to empower or include this critical group.
It assumes individual willingness, not structural readiness. Adoption isn’t only about motivation. It’s about role clarity, available time, and practical support.
It lacks segmentation by user type or cognitive ability. Different users have different onboarding needs. The framework provides no guidance for tailoring adoption based on health literacy or cognitive decline.

Real-World Example: “That’s Not My Job”

A provider introduces a new medication alert system linked to client wearables. Support workers are expected to respond to alerts, but they weren’t involved in the design and weren’t told how to interpret them.

The result? Confusion, delay, and ultimately abandonment of the system.

Adoption didn’t fail because the tech was wrong, it failed because the people around it weren’t prepared, trained, or aligned.

Take away: Engagement Isn’t Optional—It’s Operational

Technology isn’t adopted by organisations, it’s adopted by people. And people need to feel capable, supported, and safe before they change how they work or live.

Successful implementation is less about what the tool does and more about how the humans around it feel about using it.

That means providers must move beyond checklists and toward adoption readiness strategies that span onboarding, expectation-setting, support roles, and co-design with users. More about that later…

Next Steps: Build Adoption from Day One

Before you implement any care technology, ask:

Who will use it—and who’s responsible for making it work?
How will we support staff and carers when issues arise?
Are we designing with users or for them?
What habits, fears, or assumptions need to be addressed?

In Article 5, we’ll explore Domain 5: The Organisation—and why adoption depends not just on people, but on structure, leadership, and strategic readiness to change. Personally I think this is the influential reason why most smart care projects falter!

Let’s keep the conversation going—because if people don’t adopt it, it doesn’t work.

Article 4/7: By Hubert van Dalen, Managing Director of eHomeCare, where he advises on the strategies and governance of smart care technologies across the health, aged care, and disability sectors.