Benefits of the proactive care model

The Dutch model

You’d be hard-pressed to find a care provider that doesn’t think we should take a leaf or two out of the Netherlands’ book, which has one of the most progressive and proactive social care systems in the world. Hospitals, GPs and social care providers work together to provide integrated care, prevent health deterioration and promote independent living.

The Netherlands' famous U-PROFIT trial tested the effectiveness of proactive primary care for frail older adults living independently. With early identification of frailty risk and tailored support from multi-disciplinary teams, participants persevered daily functioning and saw a reduction in decline compared to other care models.

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The group receiving proactive care had a lower incidence of functional decline, with 17.9% experiencing decline compared to 23.3% in the control group and 0.21-point less decline in daily functioning scores over 1 year. The study showed the effectiveness of proactive care in increasing independent living and reducing the need for costly care utilisation.

This approach to integrated care means less reliance on hospitals and emergency care, with high digital adoption reducing costs and inefficiencies. That sounds like a dream for our health and social care services, but how would it impact care services here in the UK? We looked at some of the benefits.

The benefits of proactive care

Saves time

Proactive care means reduced incidences in your service and less time spent managing crises. Automated medication reminders can reduce the time spent on manual checks and prevent delays caused by missed doses or emergency interventions.

Additionally, digital care records allow care workers to access up-to-date care plans on the go instead of manually searching through paper files, reducing the admin time each visit.

Identifying risks early means your staff can focus on delivering person-centred care instead of responding to emergencies.

Saves money

Digital care records and predictive analytics help identify service users at risk of falls or hospital admissions. Early interventions that prevent avoidable health decline negate the need for costly emergency care.

Instead, care providers can focus on optimising resources and efficient budget allocation.

Oversight and peace of mind

Digital care records with real-time alerts mean that missed care visits, worrying behaviour changes, or missed medications are flagged instantly. Allowing care providers to intervene and stop issues from escalating.

Remote monitoring tools can alert carers to early signs of deterioration while still allowing the service user to live as independently as possible. This leads to quick interventions and assures family members that the person they love is well cared for.

Supports person-centred care delivery

With proactive care, service users receive tailored care that they’ve had a part in planning. These interventions, based on their specific needs, improve quality of life and ensure the care they receive aligns with their wishes.

Involves individuals and their families in care planning

Delivering high-quality, person-centred care means involving service users in decision-making processes whenever possible. They know their preferences and needs better than anyone else.

Co-creating a proactive digital care plan is an opportunity to initiate discussions with your service users about the care that might benefit them.

Supports independence among service users

Digital goal management systems, linked with care plans, give service users independence, choice and control over their wellbeing.

Combined with an integrated approach across health, social and community care, early interventions and preventative care help service users maintain independence and live in lower-intensity settings for longer.

Driving preventative outcomes with data collection

Using digital care records to collect and analyse health data, we can identify worrying trends such as weight loss, behaviour changes or reduced mobility. When combined with predictive analytics, care providers can proactively adjust care plans to prevent health decline before it reaches a crisis point.

Tracking trends in health deterioration and intervening early reduces GP visits, ambulance calls and hospital admissions. Reducing unplanned healthcare utilisation by mitigating avoidable health decline.

Analytics and predictive tools enable care providers to make evidence-based decisions that improve efficiency, reduce workload and enhance person-centred care delivery.

The Rose Group: a case study in proactive care

The Rose Care Group is a residential care home group with 10 sites across Devon and Somerset. Their homes cater to lower-needs residential care through to higher dementia care needs and people with behaviours that challenge.

Before adopting Log my Care eight years ago, they were struggling with paper records which, as well as taking up staff’s limited time, meant it was hard to spot trends in residents' health records and made auditing a nightmare. Since moving to a digital care record, the Group has become a pioneer in proactive care.

The proactive care journey

As well as founding Rose Care Group, Paul Nery is a developer and tech lover in his own right. When he saw the transformative power of Log my Care on his services, he knew he wanted to do his part to proactively improve the lives of his staff and residents even further. With the advent of AI, Paul saw an opportunity to address the ever-growing sector pressures, and founded Quik-AI, a software company providing artificial intelligence services to care providers and into other sectors.

Quik-AI's AI chatbot, Carey, is now connected to most major care planning software platforms, including Log my Care and in-use by multiple care providers. Once plugged-in, users can have a conversation with their care planning software, asking Carey about care trends, to check care practice mirrors the care plans, conduct monthly care plan audits in seconds and anything else they can think of. Carey also comes with a handy pre-built library of analysis templates that might most help care services.

Quik-AI’s newest addition to this library is Guardian, which analyses the care data, care plans and risk assessments stored on Log my Care, highlighting any trends or issues that suggest things might not be going to plan.

This all helps users to catch trends early and identify best-practice improvements through suggestions from Carey.

Tech-enabled proactive care in action

Recently, Guardian flagged a resident with Type 2 diabetes who had spiking blood glucose readings and wasn’t following a diabetic diet. While the resident had the capacity to choose how they ate, Carey also flagged that they had some comorbidities that could make this damaging to their health in the long term.

With this knowledge, the care team could communicate the risks to the resident and encourage them to follow a better diet and focus on their fluid intake. Within six weeks, the resident's blood sugar had stabilised and their mood had improved.

How proactive care has benefitted the Rose Care Group

The biggest benefits Paul and his team have seen from their proactive approach have been for the residents themselves and the improvements in care outcomes. Safeguarding referrals have decreased by 70% and agency use has dropped by 20% as staff have fewer admin tasks to do. Not only have costs decreased, but staff satisfaction levels have risen because they now have more free time to spend with the people they support.

Advice for care providers switching to a proactive approach

For other care providers looking to switch to a proactive approach, Paul advises they start small by picking an area where they would be most happy to see improvements.

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