CoCare: Measuring what matters

Image by Sabine van Erp from Pixabay

The LGiU is working with councils and with technology and design partners Tackle and Cubicus to develop CoCare an app and information system which supports outcomes based commissioning in home care.

Developed in Kingston and piloted in Southwark, CoCare was designed with care workers, commissioners, public sector partners and people who need care and their families.

What is CoCare?

CoCare is an app that records and shares information about visits in real time, from care workers, other professionals, even families and informal carers. It records not just the duration of visits, but also personal goals (reablement or long term), wellbeing, care needs, and health. CoCare also records experience of care, from the perspective of the person receiving care.

CoCare also provides a communication platform, enabling safer collaboration and deeper engagement with families

We also have CoCare dashboards, reporting at different levels – from organisational to individual – to support better decision making about care

owned by CoCare -fine

Consistent measurement across all care providers

  • personal goals
  • well-being, health conditions and social care needs
  • user experience
  • care hours

CoCare enables the setting and tracking of personal goals, the personal aspirations of the person receiving care, which can be related to their care needs, for example being able to make a cup of tea by themselves, or could relate to their general quality of life, for example growing sunflowers in their garden.

This has been carefully designed to have a nudge-effect, with care workers thinking about goals, health and needs that they may not always automatically consider.

CoCare can support both pathway and population-based approaches to outcomes-based commissioning. We can automatically calculate performance-based incentives and even integrate with payment systems for an invoiceless solution. Downloading the app is free for families and providers, so there’s no barrier to access.

CoCare can be used for all types of home-based care, including external provision, in-house provision and direct payments. It can help commissioners understand needs, identify risks and improve support

Putting people at the heart of care

  • Care receivers and families are able to fully participate in care management and care provision, and control access to their records
  • Commissioners, care providers and other organisations are able to securely communicate in a GDPR compliant way
  • Cross-organisational workflow reduces telephone calls and creates a formal record of requests

CoCare image.

Principled partnership

We’re guided by the principles we were founded on.  Helping councils change the way they commission adult social care so that workers are empowered, families are embraced and there’s a real focus on outcomes and that all partners in care can work together.

Find out more about CoCare at www.thisiscocare.com