Homecare Connect: Enhancing Social and Health Services through Innovative Integrated Strategies in Primary Care with social participation, IT and IA.

EAP Sardenya (primary healthcare centre of Barcelona's Baix Guinardó district, serving 22.000 people) has created and implemented a programme linking with digital support, all homecare and health services providing integrated support to elder, handicapped or chronically ill people living alone at home. The solution, tested and validated through a pilot project with the participation of patients caregivers, volunteers, social and health service providers and NGOs, consists on a botom-up real network allowing instat tome communicaction and support for po¡eple with an app with IA and voice control. It has demonstrate its efficency and evidence-based results through a pilot project developed from October 2024 to October 2025.

 

The solution consists of a person-centered real network, connected with an app provided with IA that allows to instantly generate a voice alert from all types of social and health caregivers. The alert is received at the health centre, and hekps the activatation a quick, personalised and multidisciplinary set of actions and supports.

Throuhg a pilot project, and in comparation with the control group, the participant patients have avoided episodes of hospitalistaion, urgent calls and urgent visitsto the health centers, Their perception is a more confident and reliable health and care system, delayng or preneting their institutionalisation.

 

The innovative project has been the first of its kind in the healt and care system in Catalonia, and come from a real grassroots demand from the patients of EAP Sardenya and and state of art documents pointing out the lack of a real communication and collaboration system belong social and health services proving patients support at home.

The project is now ready to became a permanent programme at a local level and ready to scale up and multiply abroad.

The deep objective of the project is the transformation of the current model of at home primary health and social care creating a new paradigm of intervention and management based on the integration of resources, which could reduce episodes of hospitalization, prevent clinical complications, and avoid or delay the institutionalization of people. Based on a state-of-the-art study, this new model of integrated social and health care management in the home environment will be devised that innovates (with existing resources) and makes more effective solutions to current needs and challenges.

 

The new model, based on an ecosystem approach, seeks to transform primary health care systems enhancing the integration, coordination and communication among the different actors that contribute in home healthcare services, in order to improve the monitoring and implementation of preventive non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatments. The management instruments have been validated by professional groups, user entities, patients and public and private actors.

The result is a multi-sector and territorial consortium with primary care centres, home care services, research institutes, patient entities . It aligns with the guidelines of the European Commission and national governments for social and health integration, promotion of the right to independent living and personal autonomy and active and healthy aging at home

The digital tool is crystal claer and easy to use by caregivers.