COALA – Coordination & Assistance for Living at Home | Swiss Center for Care@home
Design of a digital platform for coordinating regional support services in the Care@home sector
How can care coordinators in healthcare networks find the right support services for people in need of care more quickly and reliably – thereby helping them to live independently at home for longer? The COALA project is investigating how digital networking and coordinated information systems can strengthen Care@Home models in Switzerland. Together with partners from research, healthcare and innovation, the SCDH is developing a concept for a digital platform that makes regional support services visible and provides targeted support for the coordination work of professionals in healthcare networks.
Translated with DeepL.
Context
Demographic change, rising healthcare costs and a shortage of skilled workers are posing major challenges for the healthcare sector. At the heart of these challenges are care coordinators – often social workers. They are responsible for finding the right support for people in need and coordinating collaboration between different service providers. The existing care system makes this work considerably more difficult: medical, nursing and social services are organised differently across regions, lack transparency and are difficult to compare. COALA is developing a platform concept and testing it with two regional healthcare networks to assess its acceptance, user-friendliness and potential for efficiency from the perspective of care coordinators.
Approach
The project combines market and literature analyses with participatory methods and user-centred development.
Initially, existing digital platforms and international approaches are analysed. Subsequently, workshops with experts, healthcare networks and other stakeholders are held to identify needs, barriers to use and requirements.
Based on this, concrete user scenarios and a clickable UI prototype of the platform are developed. This is evaluated and further developed together with potential users. In addition, a business concept is developed to examine long-term feasibility and scalability.
The SCDH contributes its expertise in the areas of human-centred design, digital health solutions and user-centred innovation processes, and supports in particular the development of the platform concept and the design of the user experience.
Objectives
- The coordination and visibility of regional support services in the Care@Home sector are to be improved.
- In the long term, the aim is to create a scalable model that will serve as the basis for the technical implementation and piloting of an integrated Care@Home solution in Switzerland.
Status
ongoing
Type of project
Research collaboration
Target group
Health institutionsAdvocacy organisations and associations
Area of activity
Systems and processes
Offering
AnalysisConsultancy