The Art of Giving Heart
This week, thousands of young people across Scotland received their exam results. Some opened messages and envelopes with delight and relief. Others experienced disappointment, uncertainty, or perhaps a sense that […]
Before words, there was care
At the very start of life there is a tiny moment which we rarely see, rarely name, and yet we spend the rest of our years trying to recreate. It […]
The small bonds that hold us
There is a quiet erosion that happens long before systems fail. It begins not with budgets or policies, but with absence. The absence of time. The absence of attention. The absence of ordinary […]
AI Companies are adopting ‘care language’: Three reasons why we should be concerned
Written by Dr Caroline Emmer De Albuquerque Green (Director of Research, Institute for Ethics in AI), Donald Macaskill (CEO of Scottish Care), Anna Steffeney (Executive Director FamTech.org) In June 2026, OpenAI released its Industrial Policy for […]
The courage to build
There are times in my life which are etched indelibly in my memory even when my role in the event is marginal and incidental. On a rain-soaked October day in […]
Young Scotland, Ageing Scotland: One Future
There are moments in a nation’s life when the mirrors we hold up to ourselves begin to distort what truly matters. We start to speak in binaries: young or old, […]
Co-operation over competition: the quiet power that sustains care
There is a persistent illusion at the heart of much policy thinking about social care: that competition sharpens quality, that markets drive efficiency, that fragmentation somehow leads to innovation. But […]
Self-Care is not selfish
There is a phrase that returns again and again when we speak of care work and the stresses that carers face, both paid and unpaid, “You must look after yourself […]
Care, sanctuary and welcome.
One of the words I use an awful lot in the work I do, perhaps too easily, is home. We speak of care homes, of homely environments, of supporting people […]
Who supports the ones who care?
Caring rarely announces itself. It happens in the background of daily life, in ordinary homes, in quiet routines, in the unnoticed spaces where support is given without ceremony or recognition. […]
When Ai acts in our name — Part Two: The systems we do not see.
In my previous blog on Saturday, I explored the growing reality that artificial intelligence is no longer confined to suggesting or supporting, but is increasingly able to act, initiating processes, […]
When Ai acts in our name: care, authority and responsibility.
The following was developed from a recent seminar which I delivered. This morning I want to speak about artificial intelligence … but not as a technical topic. Nor primarily […]
Ageing Well is more than staying intact.
When I was out in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of taking part in an international panel discussion on the ongoing debate between longevity and […]
Beyond the Centre: Why the future of care and support is about agency, not personhood.
There is a phrase that has accompanied social care for decades – person-centred. It has been spoken in training rooms, written into legislation, embedded in strategies, inscribed into inspection frameworks. […]
Flourish: beyond maintenance, towards a life fully lived
As I reflect on my time together with others at the Scottish Care Care at Home and Housing Support Conference, which took place yesterday in Glasgow, I find myself returning […]
Care Creates: A Better Way
Care Creates a Better Way: Why Social Care Must Be Built on Trust, Not Competition Social care touches all of our lives. Whether it’s support at home, care in a care […]
Care Creates: The conditions for technology to work
There’s a question that sits behind almost every conversation about technology and social care. Not “which device?” or “which platform?” but something more fundamental: what needs to change around the […]
Care Creates: Economic Value
Care Creates… Economic Value: why social care is one of Scotland’s most powerful economic engines There is a simple truth: social care is not a drain on Scotland’s economy instead it is one of its greatest generators of prosperity, wellbeing, and […]
Care Creates: Planning and Funding Care in Scotland
Planning and Funding Care in Scotland In Scotland, social care is under real pressure. Local authorities are struggling with tight budgets, and at the same time demand for care, whether […]