Barnahus, care service for child victims of sexual abuse

Publications Bank of innovations

Barnahus, care service for child victims of sexual abuse

Catalan Government, Save The Children

A pioneering integrated unit in Catalonia and Spain, made up of a specialised multidisciplinary team, whose objective is to avoid the re-victimisation of children and adolescents who are victims of sexual abuse and to provide all the necessary care in a single space.

Barnahus is a project to help children and young people –from 0 to 18 years of age– who have suffered sexual abuse and to prevent aggression against minors. It puts the victim of sexual abuse at the centre, working in a single space with all the care services they need and minimising the traumatic experience of reliving the aggression. This avoids victims having to go through courts, police stations, hospitals and children’s services. It is promoted by Save the Children and is supported by five Catalan government departments, mainly the Social Rights department, but in coordination with the Health, Education, Justice and Interior departments.

Barnahus has a welcoming and friendly appearance to provide security, comfort and confidence to children and their families. There are separate rooms to preserve privacy, a kitchen-dining room, offices and a medical examination room. The psychosocial team –consisting of psychologists and social workers with a coordinator– works full time, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and also offers translation services.

iCalidad, a technological tool for the quality of life of people with ASD

Publications Bank of innovations

iCalidad, a technological tool for the quality of life of people with ASD

Red para la Calidad de Vida, Autismo España

Assessment and support tool to improve the quality of life of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families. With an innovative methodology, the aspects that most affect the quality of life of a person are assessed and individualised support plans are designed, adapted to the needs, interests and expectations.

iCalidad is, therefore, a collaborative technological tool that corresponds to a system for assessing the quality of life of people with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It was born out of the realisation that the assessment of this disorder is subjective and that the assessment instruments are often not adapted to the reality of the people who suffer from it, as pointed out by the advances in knowledge that show that ASD manifests itself in a very specific way in each case.

It is flexible and works in such a way that the perspective of the person with ASD is integrated into the design of their own plan, as are the families and professionals who know them best. These people constitute the evaluation team and respond individually to a questionnaire formulated by iCalidad. The technological tool systematises and compares, and also generates a quality report that integrates the responses of all the team members. It is the team that is responsible for evaluating it together with the aim of designing –by consensus– a personalised and optimal support plan.

Thus, iCalidad enables people with ASD to participate in making decisions about their lives and to achieve meaningful personal goals. It also enables families and professionals to collaborate and offer appropriate support to the person with the disorder. Finally, iQuality enables organisations to provide quality support and to respond –appropriately and innovatively– to the priorities, interests and needs of people with ASD.

EAVA, integral service against elder abuse

Publications Bank of innovations

EAVA, integral service against elder abuse

Regional Council of Anoia

Service specialised in the detection and accompaniment of elderly people in the county of Anoia. Promoted and financed by the Consell Comarcal, the aim of the team is to detect and prevent situations of abuse, on the one hand, and to offer multidisciplinary care to protect and reduce the possible damage caused in these situations, on the other.

The Anoia Elderly Care Team (EAVA) is a pioneering public service in Europe that makes visible and tackles a problem that is gaining strength in the context of generalised population ageing. According to the World Health Organisation, 15% of people over the age of 65 suffer abuse, although the official data do not reflect this figure because reporting is rare.

The service is mainly aimed at elderly people who are known or suspected of suffering situations of abuse –physical, psychological, sexual or economic or derived from abandonment, negligence, self-neglect and violation of rights– both at home and in institutions. According to the statistics presented by the EAVA, elder abuse is feminised –more than 75% of the cases are women– and the aggressors are mostly children and non-professional carers.

The team is multidisciplinary; it is composed by a network of experts from different fields to offer a comprehensive view of the situation. It coordinates on a daily basis with the professionals who care for the elderly to detect suspicions and emergencies and prevent abuse. It also advises, assesses and intervenes on a case-by-case basis. Generally, the unit opts for mediation rather than legal action, although if it does so, it offers the elderly accompaniment before the courts. However, the direction of the service is not unidirectional: any professional in the field of social services, social entities and health services can request the team’s service and jointly coordinate individualised care.

Thus, the EAVA highlights the need for co-operation between a wide co-ordinated network to detect and take action against elder abuse. The collaboration is intended to be comprehensive and to go beyond social services, including notaries and bank offices in the county useful for detecting financial abuse. In this sense, given that the membership and impact of the team’s actions require efficient coordination, the EAVA has provided training to health personnel, social service workers, judges and regional police officers.

Espai Obert, an alternative service to institutionalization for people with severe psychosocial disabilities.

Publications Bank of innovations

Espai Obert, an alternative service to institutionalization for people with severe psychosocial disabilities.

Fundació Support-Girona Foundation and Healthcare Assistance Institute (IAS)

Alternative resource to institutionalization for people with severe psychosocial disabilities, which offers them social and health support based on the pact and their free will to use the services of the facility.

It is aimed at people who are in a situation of social exclusion and even homelessness, due to mental and behavioral disorders or substance abuse problems, and who have no family or social support or financial resources,

Espai Obert aims to reduce the stigma of these people and overcome the barriers that stand in the way of their social and community inclusion. The intervention methodology is based on low demand and free use.

As a first phase of intervention, the aim is to cover the basic needs of hygiene and food. Therefore, the service is equipped with a kitchen, living and dining room, washing machines, patio and shower and hygiene areas, and the users participate in the routines of the center (preparing meals, laundry, taking care of the garden…). Once this first phase has been achieved, a bond of trust is built, in order to work on the development, skills and well-being of each person, as well as socialization with other people in the space and other resources in the area.

This pioneering intervention model is one of the tools to be deployed in Catalonia in the process of reconversion and transformation of long-stay psychiatric hospitalization with functional recovery and life project units based on the successful experience of the counties of Girona, where in 2004 the long-stay psychiatric hospital in the former Salt Psychiatric Hospital was closed, generating a network of community mental health and addiction services, with alternative resources.


The Access Hub, a multi-institutional support center for homeless people

Publications Bank of innovations

The Access Hub, a multi-institutional support center for homeless people

Simon Community

An innovative multi-institutional counseling and support center for homeless people. It is a space designed to ensure that users feel that their well-being is a priority and to make it easier for them to obtain the accompaniment and support they need.

The key to the center is the participation of more than 20 organizations, all of which offer their services under one roof. This removes many bureaucratic barriers that often hinder access to critical services. In addition, the organizations’ partners are in contact and work more efficiently, offering solutions with multiple viewpoints, even in the most difficult circumstances. Users can access more than 40 supports provided by a wide range of experts, from financial and legal support, to digital, health or wellness advice.

Just walking into the building, the user meets a person instead of a reception desk. The goal is to offer a space of connection and tranquility, giving a welcoming and comfortable feeling to ensure a safe and comfortable place. To achieve this feeling, the space has high quality furniture and finishes. Colors are chosen in a way that is not over the top, but with originality and awareness.

The center hopes to break the mold of the usual service delivery by offering a space that is easily accessible, modern and adapted to the needs of the users.

Youth and Family Office, community-based model for raising vulnerable children.

Publications Bank of innovations

Youth and Family Office, community-based model for raising vulnerable children.

Youth and Familiy Office

Community model of care for vulnerable children and teenagers in the Austrian municipality of Graz, which seeks to strengthen resources for families, and to identify and resolve their specific needs. It is designed so that the child or teenager and the family are at the center, with an approach that takes into account the domestic and social context in which they live.

The initiative has been developed in four districts of the city, and focuses mainly on avoiding the institutionalization of the most vulnerable children. The program’s approach is preventive, offering families who are expecting a child to receive information free of charge and to participate in a wide range of activities to prepare them for future parenting. Some of the activities offered are home visits by professionals, as well as free lectures and courses. Attendance at these courses provides a booklet with stamps that provide an economic incentive exchangeable for other services in the city, such as visits to parental counseling centers.

Once the children are born, parents receive counseling, and if special needs are identified, they can be transitioned to specialized services. The program is also aimed at older ages, including adolescence, with services such as nursery schools or youth centers, as well as leisure activities and digital support.

Graz’s model promotes flexible assistance tailored to the needs of each family, which is always involved in the research and identification of solutions.

Getxo Zurekin, community accompaniment at the end of life

Publications Bank of innovations

Getxo Zurekin, community accompaniment at the end of life

Fundación doble sonrisa

A local community network that supports and accompanies people who are in a situation of advanced illness, offering a model of health, social and community care to improve their well-being and quality of life that goes beyond the resources and capacity of the health and social services systems.

The network acts in different areas: raising public awareness of the importance of care and support for dependent people or those at the end of life; training neighbors in palliative care; and promoting research to foster a paradigm shift in community care.

The network also provides information on the resources available in the municipality in relation to palliative care and the situation of people with advanced illness, in the form of a local observatory that seeks to detect support needs based on a pioneering collaborative methodology where citizen participation is key.

Getxo Zurekin believes in the strength of the community and in networking among people of the same population to take care of each other, to reach where public services cannot reach.

Hoplr, a neighborhood social network to strengthen mutual support and inclusion

Publications Bank of innovations

Hoplr, a neighborhood social network to strengthen mutual support and inclusion

Hoplr

Social network aimed at creating social capital among neighbors in a neighborhood. It builds local communities that go hand in hand with current social changes to create fully inclusive and participatory cities.

The initiative aims to put community at the center of neighborhood life, as it considers mutual support to be one of the key elements of neighborhoods. It works free of charge for all types of mobile devices and access is based on each person’s address. To connect neighbors in the same area, neighborhoods are geographically delimited and only profiles from the same neighborhood have access to messages posted within it.

People using the application can meet other people living in the same neighborhood, ask for help to carry out different tasks, or help other neighbors with their needs. In addition, it is a good tool for organizing activities or events such as bike tours or game nights. Hoplr promotes care among the people who participate, whether it is companionship when a person is sick, shopping for elderly people who ask for it, or finding a person to take care of children for a few afternoons during the week.

As for public institutions, they cannot see the conversations between neighbors, but they have the possibility of publishing messages to inform about new developments, with which neighbors can interact and contribute ideas. In other words, it is a social network that promotes direct communication between neighborhood demands and the actions carried out by municipal authorities.

It is a social network free of commercial and advertising intervention, which works respecting the privacy of users, to create a safe environment for communication and citizen participation.

Vila Veïna, a new public community care system

Publications Bank of innovations

Vila Veïna, a new public community care system

Barcelona City Council

A new public care system in the city of Barcelona that aims to achieve a model of social and health care that is smaller and closer to the users.

To achieve this, it structures the service in a set of “Super Islands” of care, which encompass a group of houses and neighborhoods of between 10,000 and 30,000 inhabitants, with a reference point located in an open community space (for example, a library) to manage the needs of service users in an integrated manner. Thanks to this new innovative service model, professionals enjoy greater autonomy in the organization and management of their work, since they know the users more closely and are able to deal more directly and satisfactorily with all of them.

Each Vila Veïna has the essential services and benefits related to care in a centralized manner, in order to be able to deal with them closely. It also has emotional support groups and a resource bank for the care of children and the elderly, which provides material such as crutches, cradles, wheelchairs and other items necessary for the care of children and the elderly. It also offers legal and employment advice for caregivers and families in need, as well as talks and outdoor activities. The aim is to provide caregivers with access to information about existing services, as well as to create communities of care and proximity.

Each Vila Veïna has a professional who dedicates his or her working day to promoting networking, programming activities and attending to citizens in relation to care. The new profile of this professional is essential in innovation and requires a set of skills for community activation, as well as knowledge of municipal administrative systems and other administrations.

The project is aimed at the entire population living in the territory, because it is based on the idea that ‘we all take care of each other’, and the goal is to achieve a more caring community with all the people who are part of it.

In short, it is an innovative model that humanizes services and contemplates the participation of people, both caregivers and those receiving care, who are part of a community network and co-responsible for the collective welfare.

By 2022 there will be 12 Vila Veïna spaces in the city of Barcelona, and the goal is to have 115 throughout the city in the future.

Social Hotel for drug addicts in a homeless situation

Publications Bank of innovations

Social Hotel for drug addicts in a homeless situation

ABD (Welfare and Development Association)

Hotel Social per a persones drogodependents en situació de sensellarisme

Daniela and Paola, two residents of the Social Hotel

A low-demand temporary residential center for drug addicts who spend the night on the street. It is a pioneering and unique residential resource in Spain, which offers accommodation and coverage of basic needs, as well as a space for professional accompaniment to enable supervised substance use.

It is estimated that 30% of homeless people in the city of Barcelona are drug addicts, a fact that prevents them from accessing the network of shelters and municipal housing for the homeless. In addition, living on the street implies a state of enormous uncertainty and precariousness that hinders any voluntary process of abandoning substance use. Therefore, these people find themselves inside a wheel from which it is very difficult to get out. That is why the ABD Social Hotel does not require abstinence from addictions to enter the center, but offers individualized monitoring of each drug-dependent person without imposing any commitment or specific starting point.

The Social Hotel, which at the beginning of 2022 ABD has been moved to a hotel located in the Horta-Guinardó neighborhood of Barcelona that had been closed due to the drop in tourism caused by Covid-19, has a capacity for 50 people and has single rooms, a dining room and multipurpose rooms, among which there is a room open for those residents who need to consume. In the room there are nurses, psychologists and sometimes a doctor, as well as the necessary material to do so with maximum hygienic guarantees. It is, therefore, an environment in which professionals and users establish relationships of trust that facilitate recovery and personalized follow-up.

Another of the innovative aspects of this new Social Hotel in comparison with other resources is that the shelter works with a gender perspective, since 50% of the places are reserved for women and it has non-mixed spaces and groups to work on gender violence. It also has spaces for people with reduced mobility and places for victims of gender violence.

In short, it is a project that works for the social inclusion of people who are doubly socially excluded: homeless and drug addicts.

The Social Hotel opened during the pandemic, in 2020, in a provisional facility, and since 2022 it has a permanent building in a former hotel. After a year and a half in operation and with 200 residents already having passed through, the professionals of the Social Hotel have been able to note a substantial improvement in the emotional state and health of the residents, some of whom have made a satisfactory transition to other, more autonomous accommodations.

ADB Associació Benestar i Desenvolupament