Proactive and Personalised Care: Building the Future of Support

Across Europe, social services face a common challenge: how to support older people in ways that respect their independence, while also ensuring safety and wellbeing. As populations age and pressures on social services grow, it becomes ever more important to rethink how care is designed and delivered.

Care is not One-Size-Fits-All

Every older person deserves quality care, but their needs differ significantly. Some may feel reassured with a simple emergency button, while others require more comprehensive support—ranging from fall detection and health monitoring to communication tools and environmental sensors that help adapt surroundings to their comfort. Recognising this diversity is key to creating fair, inclusive, and effective systems of care.

From Reactive to Proactive

Traditional approaches to care have often been reactive, stepping in only after a crisis occurs. Today, advances in technology allow us to move toward proactive care. Monitoring daily activity, detecting subtle changes in behaviour, and alerting caregivers early can prevent health crises and reduce unnecessary hospitalisations. This proactive model not only improves outcomes but also allows older people to live at home with greater independence and dignity.

The Case for a Holistic Approach

No single tool or service is enough to address the complexities of aging. A holistic platform, one that integrates activity tracking, voice communication, fall detection, health sensors, and even partial smart home features, ensures that care can be personalised and scaled to each individual’s evolving needs. Such flexibility empowers caregivers, families, and service providers to offer the right level of support at the right time.

A Call to Invest in Innovation

For social services to fully embrace this shift, investment is required—not only in deploying new tools, but also in piloting, testing, and refining innovative solutions. A “button in a box” is no longer enough. What Europe’s care systems need is an adaptive, diverse, and forward-looking approach that reflects the realities of aging in the 21st century.

Conclusion

As proud sponsors of the European Social Services Awards 2025, we celebrate the collective commitment to excellence in social services. By working together to advance proactive and personalised care, we can build systems that are both more effective and more humane—ensuring that older people live not only longer, but better.