case study:
Largest and fastest roll-out of digital care technology ever – Kent, Suffolk & Essex County Councils
In March 2020 as the country was slipping into lockdown, Rethink Partners was commissioned by Essex, Kent and Suffolk County Councils, together with technology company Alcove, to deliver 5,000 Video Carephone devices to vulnerable people, as part of their response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The strategy was to identify key groups of people, with the most need, to help them stay connected with their friends, family and health and care services.
We were working with and through social workers, care professionals, therapists, commissioners, care providers, community and NHS partners – trying to get close to the frontline and to the people who know service users best in what was a highly dynamic situation.
challenge
Enable vulnerable people to keep in touch with their loved ones during the Covid-19 outbreak, with easy-to use and implement technology.
solution
The largest and fastest roll-out of video phones to vulnerable people in Kent, Essex and Suffolk, working with key partners to deliver the project.
outcome
3,000 devices delivered, 111,000 individual calls made through the Video Carephones, training to 750 health and care professionals, all in 16 weeks.
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challenge
Largest and fastest roll-out of digital care technology ever – Kent, Suffolk & Essex County Councils
In March 2020 as the country was slipping into lockdown, Rethink Partners was commissioned by Essex, Kent and Suffolk County Councils, together with technology company Alcove, to deliver 5,000 Video Carephone devices to vulnerable people, as part of their response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The strategy was to identify key groups of people, with the most need, to help them stay connected with their friends, family and health and care services.
We were working with and through social workers, care professionals, therapists, commissioners, care providers, community and NHS partners – trying to get close to the frontline and to the people who know service users best in what was a highly dynamic situation
solution
Acting as conduit between councils, providers, partners and Alcove and using the information available, we quickly identified the groups of people who would get the most benefit from the devices including those who were shielding, were in receipt of care services and those at most risk of social isolation and loneliness; we engaged heavily with commissioned care providers at this stage – they were on the ground and were essential in identifying people who were really in need in the early stages of the lockdown.
Mapping out how we reach those people across all sectors, in order to provide a device and get them activated as quickly as possible; this involved a lot of talking and listening. We quickly realised how important it was to get social workers, OTs and nurses involved so spent time and energy upfront getting their support and buy-in.
Rethink, the councils and Alcove jointly delivered briefings, training and wide spread communications, across multiple organisations and channels to engage, inform and stimulate uptake; we quickly learnt that face to face and small, direct conversations work best to hook people in. We captured good news stories and user experience to adapt and change; we listened to staff using the devices and brought peers together to encourage spread. Sharing powerful real-life stories has helped people to adopt and use the devices more readily.
We responded to the COVID-19 changing landscape and adjusted our approach to act proactively; for example, shifting the focus onto care homes and people in supported accommodation when it was clear they needed help as much as people living alone at home.
We supported internal teams to ensure the roll-out continues and to capture learnings for future care technology programmes. We worked hard to build strong relationships with partners and across internal teams; these will be an important legacy for more joint work in the future.
outcomes
An average of 185 referrals per week across the three councils
