As care needs across the UK continue to evolve and pressure on an already stretched workforce intensifies, the shift from reactive to proactive care can no longer be viewed as aspirational - it is an operational imperative.

Delivering better outcomes for people depends on health, housing and social care providers working collaboratively, aligning across data and delivery. While the challenges facing the system are widely understood, what is less recognised is that the data needed to enable this transformation is already being collected.

Mark Hindle, Managing Director at Tunstall Healthcare, discusses how data insight can enable more collaborative working and proactive approaches to care in order to improve local outcomes.

Understanding the demand issue

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services estimated that in England alone 250,000 people were waiting for a care assessment in August 2023. This record demand, an ageing population and inflation are all straining the social care system. Combined with the workforce crisis that is rooted in low wages due to ongoing underfunding and a lack of implementation of a strategic workforce plan, the social care system is in need of a clear and strategic way forward.

Councils, housing providers and care providers need to move beyond reactive approaches to create viable models of preventative care and early intervention, prioritising support for those in need before a serious incident occurs.

Benefits of data in social care

Being able to effectively use digital tools to mine data improves social care quality, enables early interventions, enhances decision-making and creates more efficient ways of working.

Analysing data gives delivery managers the ability to identify potential problems quickly, meaning intervention techniques can be deployed before a concern escalates. To refine this approach, housing providers, health and social care providers must work as one to share data and improve the capability of monitoring.
Using predictive models that combine existing general health data and personalised care data, this model is a feasible next step to improving outcomes for people but also actively assessing quality of life.

A proactive model will also create the ability to unlock a benchmark system for housing providers, with the use of data creating wider insights into where and when resources are required, enabling more personalised and efficient support.

The opportunity to connect information and coordinate services to deliver integrated care at scale is more achievable than it has ever been.

The role of technology

Both group and independent living environments have deployed monitoring technology for decades. It is clear the sector is not short of technology, but what is noticeable is the lack of data capture and insights being used to inform care.
Commissioners must go beyond seeking technology to monitor and instead look for tools that also offer data collection - as the sector transitions to a digital network, many more possibilities are available.

With technology and teams continuing to operate in silos, it’s clear that the challenge has now shifted from adopting technology, to identifying how organisations can unlock actionable intelligence from the data available, as well as creating a strategy to build upon its use as technology develops.

The foundation for proactive and preventive care is already in place across much of the North of England, with technology playing an important role. Wearable devices, for example, have evolved beyond being a simple alert system and now offer capabilities such as tracking vitals, assessing movement and identifying changes in behavioural patterns and health metrics.

These key data points help with highlighting the early warning signs in an individual and AI-supported tools are also increasingly being integrated into adult social care settings, working alongside care teams to continuously monitor and interpret patterns in day-to-day living.

By drawing on data from care records and routine observations, these systems can flag subtle changes in behaviour, mood or cognition that might once have gone unrecorded or unnoticed until a crisis point was reached.

Earlier identification means interventions can be delivered promptly, carers are no longer waiting for visible signs of decline before acting but are instead equipped to respond to patterns that are quietly signalling something is shifting.

If these systems were to operate in a connected manner, real-time risk information sits at the centre of care planning, allowing support to be shaped around the individual rather than around the system.

The challenge now is to turn this from an exception into the standard, and this requires organisations to be committed to working collaboratively across the system.

The future of collaborative care

Embracing the use of digital insights not only benefits traditional carers, but also allows for loved ones and informal carers to be kept informed and involved through platforms that strengthen support networks and improve transparency.

While using the technology is vital in providing proactive care, optimising the resources to support with prioritisation, resulting in elevation of the burden on stretched staff, is the next step forward.

Older adults are increasingly able to remain in their own homes for longer, helping to delay the need for residential care and preserve independence.

Whilst the sector understands that true care starts at enabling earlier intervention, better decision-making and a joined-up approach, we must begin creating opportunities to harness the power of technology that is already in the home, already supporting vulnerable people and already behaviour mapping.

This is the only way to create connected solutions and become the backbone for prevention, ensuring people are able to stay where they want to be - at home. In group living environments too, data insight can support appropriate levels of care and targeted interventions.

Looking ahead

Creating real change requires more than plans and policy, we need a fundamental rethink of how the UK connects people, services and data. True care only works when health, social care and housing providers operate as one, with the ability to act on timely, meaningful insights.

We have long had the foundations in place, and now, with digital and data-led approaches, we can begin to connect that ecosystem more effectively to link homes, communities and services in a way that enables earlier intervention and more coordinated support, putting people at the heart of decision making, commissioning and care.

While the foundations are in place for technology and data, what is needed now is the will to connect them and the urgency to act as the digital switchover rapidly approaches.

To find out more about Tunstall Healthcare, please visit: www.tunstall.co.uk