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

Imatges Posts Web 6 min 1

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 (children’s house in icelandic) 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.

Catalonia already has centers in Tarragona, Manresa, and Lleida. In 2024, Intress, a partner entity of the iSocial Foundation, has promoted the opening of a Barnahus facility in Terrassa and in La Seu d’Urgell. On February 27th, the Idea Foundation, also a member of iSocial, will inaugurate a center in Granollers.

Help to care, support for people who care for others

Publications Bank of innovations

Help to care, support for people who care for others

NHS, The Kent and Medway Sustainability and Transformation Partnership and DLC 

help to care

Innovative mobile application created to support people who care for others

Help to Care can be downloaded for free and is designed to help caregivers find appropriate information when identifying health problems. The application is intended as a portable quick guide that can be accessed without an internet connection. It follows the standards of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

It includes guides, tips and videos on common illnesses such as diabetes, urinary tract infections and respiratory problems. It also offers a section that allows determining if a person is developing a serious health problem that requires medical assistance.

One of the purposes is to empower those who care for someone’s health, whether professionals or not, so they can make the best decisions in the care they provide. Additionally, it provides resources so that caregivers can detect and act on potential health problems, as their close contact with the individuals they care for allows them to perceive anomalous situations more quickly.

e-Rueca, a virtual support for citizens at risk of exclusion

Publications Bank of innovations

e-Rueca, a virtual support for citizens at risk of exclusion

La Rueca Asociación

User using the eRueca application with the mobile phone

A virtual social center that provides information, guidance, and support to individuals facing social exclusion through a multi-channel online connection.

e-Rueca is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and is a completely free service. The application is designed as a physical care center, a building with multiple floors and service rooms where users can find and interact with teams of professionals ready to help them, provide support, and offer information. The more than 10 technicians involved in this project provide user support in various intervention fields. Of the eight rooms that e-Rueca makes available to the user, five are dedicated to direct social and psychological care: the Psychology Room, the Work Room, the Legal and Immigration Room, the Social Care Room, and the Youth Room; in these rooms, they offer everything from legal advice for foreigners to mediation. They also provide answers to frequently asked questions related to each intervention area and a section of resources in text and video format. With these five rooms, the different needs for accompaniment and support of people in situations of social exclusion are covered, always taking into account their specific circumstances.

The remaining three rooms are: the Reception, which provides information about the project and its goals; the Exhibition Room, where tools and resources (hobbies, games, tests, infographics, etc.) are collected with the aim of raising awareness about situations and groups in social vulnerability; and the auditorium, a meeting space for third-sector professionals that includes updates related to online training, webinars, or events that the organization makes available to professionals.

Communication between users and professionals is possible through various channels. The most direct is instant chat, but it is also possible to make inquiries via SMS, WhatsApp, email, or video calls. If the user requests it, the possibility of face-to-face assistance with a hybrid option is also considered. The team of professionals responds within a maximum of 48 hours. Thus, in a simple way and through mobile devices, tablets, and computers, vulnerable individuals can contact and receive the attention they need quickly and efficiently.

Vangin, integration of social services into a single citizen portal 

Publications Bank of innovations

Vangin, integration of social services into a single citizen portal 

Talgildu Føroya

samleikin taenastuveitarar 730x365 2x

Portal that brings together in one place all the digital services of the various public institutions of the Faroe Islands (Denmark), including social services, to provide citizens access to information and management of all types of procedures. 

Vangin has become an example of digitalization in the public sector worldwide, placing the Faroe Islands in a leading position. Vangin centralizes all services in this Danish territory and is available to everyone over 15 years of age with a Faroese personal identification number. The previous and key step to use this tool is the registration through Samleikin, which is the electronic authentication used in the Faroe Islands. 

Vangin offers a wide range of self-service services from various providers, and social and welfare services are included in them. Thus, citizens can easily carry out often complex online procedures, such as applying for official documents, registering for social programs or submitting applications for public services, without having to physically travel to the institutions. It also offers a personal calendar that allows to keep track of appointments, facilitating the organization of citizenship from reminders of relevant deadlines. Furthermore, Vangin provides a secure mailbox called Mínboks, which allows receiving and sending messages related to the issues that are of interest to each individual, guaranteeing at all times the confidentiality and security of communication.  

LifeCompanion, a customisable assistant for people who have difficulty communicating orally

Publications Bank of innovations

LifeCompanion, a customisable assistant for people who have difficulty communicating orally

Centre Mutualiste de Kerpape

Assistive Technology 1

Personalised digital assistant that provides communication assistance and access to information technologies. It is free and open source and facilitates oral communication for people with difficulties.

LifeCompanion is a highly customisable and flexible assistant, so it can be used in different contexts, but it is mainly intended to facilitate computer access and communication. In fact, one of the outstanding features of LifeCompanion is its integrated speech synthesis, which allows users to communicate using speech. LifeCompanion thus aims to promote the social participation and autonomy of its users in areas such as communication, access to information technologies, education and employment. It also contributes to establishing social links, especially with caregivers and professionals close to them.

LifeCompanion works in such a way that it adjusts to the individual’s motor, visual, auditory or cognitive abilities and development. For example, it enables pictographic and phonetic communication, as it includes a vocabulary tree with pictograms and pictures and a customised phoneme communication keyboard. Digital keyboards can also be customised and typing can be accelerated with advanced word prediction. Among other functions, LifeCompanion also facilitates motor accessibility, anticipating movement and with advanced configurations in this area. In this regard, it is important to note that it has been co-designed by and in close collaboration with end users.

Rural Care, innovation in care for rural dependents 

Publications Bank of innovations

Rural Care, innovation in care for rural dependents 

Castilla y León Social Services, Junta de Castilla y León, Diputación provincial de Valladolid, Fundation Persones, Plena inclusión Castilla y León, European Social Network

An innovative project that offers social support, health care and opportunities for participation in the community to people with dependency, disability or chronic illness living in rural areas. It aims to enable people to remain at home with security, quality of life and dignity, maintaining their life project and daily routine. 

rural care asistencia mayores

In rural areas, which in recent years have been dominated by an ageing population, families, communities and volunteers play a crucial role in well-being. The Rural Care project stems from the desire to ensure active ageing around the home and is based on the premise that community participation is essential. This initiative is implemented in the province of Valladolid, in a rural context. Thus, this project, which is part of a European initiative for innovation in social services, is designed for people who are in situations of dependency and require constant support and care. 

In this sense, the aim is to guarantee the dignity of people, ensuring their autonomy and respecting their preferences and wishes. Rural Care also focuses on the families and carers of the project participants, providing them with support to reconcile care tasks with personal, social and working life, as well as to ensure their own health.  

This project stands out for its multi-level partnership of public and private actors, as well as for the coordination of social and health services at different levels. The Support Plan developed for each project participant includes different professionals: a coordinator, a case manager, a reference professional at home and in the community, among others. Among the support actions, it is worth highlighting that the home is also adapted and a personalised community participation programme is designed. In this sense, it is worth highlighting the fact that one of the project’s objectives is to dynamise the rural territory, local occupation, community involvement and social cohesion. 

Mixed Living, residents who live with and collaborate with highly vulnerable people

Publications Bank of innovations

Mixed Living, residents who live with and collaborate with highly vulnerable people

Tussenvoorziening

Mixed social housing blocks of flats where homeless and economically vulnerable people live together, which is beneficial for both groups. It facilitates access to housing more quickly for many people while the community activities carried out in the buildings promote social reintegration and break down the social isolation and stigmatisation of homeless people.

Mixed Living is a form of housing in which 70% of the people who live there are on low incomes and in need of social housing and the remaining 30% are people who are vulnerable, usually homeless people who are beneficiaries of the Housing First programme. Both parties must comply with the previously established conditions of commitment and rules, mainly regarding the care of the environment they share. Participating in this social accompaniment programme is advantageous for people in the first group, reducing their waiting time for access to social housing.

It is also clearly favourable for homeless people —and not only, because the programme is also aimed at people with a lack of social network or psychological problems— for whom the contact and cohabitation with other residents facilitates their social reintegration. In this sense, the shared housing enables proximity between the two groups with common meeting spaces that make it easier for them to have coffee, watch a football match or look after the courtyard. The project is supervised by professionals who visit the block of flats at least once a week and are responsible for assessing and managing the functioning of the cohabitation.

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.

Mano, an app for social professionals working on the streets and in shelters

Publications Bank of innovations

Mano, an app for social professionals working on the streets and in shelters

Associació AURORE

Free app that facilitates and helps to improve the work of public service professionals working with vulnerable people, on the street and in sheltered areas.

Mano is a freely accessible application for smartphones that allows workers to continuously and closely monitor the people they follow during reception procedures and activities. It also has a web interface for computers. It thus makes it possible to complete and consult the medical-social files of these people, avoiding the loss of information and the need to constantly renew it. In addition, it also allows workers and their respective teams to have all tasks grouped together –those already carried out and planned– and to be alerted to future deadlines and commitments. It also automatically generates anonymous statistics and reports.

All of this guarantees the protection of the data of the people accompanied, which are encrypted and only the people who form part of the monitoring team have access to them. In fact, Mano’s functionalities have been specially conceived and designed by the users who use them and, for this reason, the tool is constantly being improved. The users have been trained by Mano, both on the streets and in the reception areas, as well as in telephone assistance.

Simulateur Aides Sociales, a tool that informs citizens of the social aids

Publications Bank of innovations

Simulateur Aides Sociales, a tool that informs citizens of the social aids

Beta.gouv.fr, CNIL, CAF, Assurance maladie, Agefiph, Pôle Emploi, Assurance retraite, Crous, Anah, Anil

A fast and efficient tool that informs the French population about the social assistance they are entitled to receive. Powered by several public and private actors and with an individualized online service, the simulator estimates to users the assistance benefits that are due to each of them.


The Simulateur Aides Sociale was born out of the realization that a large part of French citizens are unaware of the many social systems and benefits –both national and local– to which they are entitled and from which they can benefit. In France, billions of euros of social assistance do not find beneficiaries, either due to lack of awareness, demand or receipt, resulting in the loss of considerable income per household. The simulator, launched by the French government and in partnership with various associations and companies in the technology sector, aims to combat the high rate of non-appeals for social assistance by informing and guiding among the many existing aids.

It is a free tool that enhances the rights to social assistance of each person with a very simple and effective operation. With guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality of information, each user is asked to answer a few questions about family and professional life. Then, in a few minutes, the simulator classifies more than 1,000 social systems and lists the benefits available to each person according to their personal situation. Once the user is aware of the benefits, the relevant claims can be made and the financial aid can be received.

The benefits available in the simulator are grouped according to their function (health, housing, transport, professional integration, family, etc.) and are both national and departmental, depending on the place of residence entered by the user. However, it should be borne in mind that the result obtained from the simulation is indicative and does not guarantee that the user will end up receiving the aid, as only the organization empowered to grant it can decide whether the user is actually eligible.