Challenge

Haringey Council planned to close 80% of its day centres for people with dementia and adults with learning disabilities. It needed to design a sustainable alternative with a stronger focus on technology - all within six months.

The council tasked FutureGov with designing an alternative delivery model that had less reliance on buildings and more emphasis on meaningful activities. The user experience for those currently receiving day services also needing improving.

Approach

A co-design process involving staff, carers, service users and their families, helped us to discover that ultimately people wanted more choice. With this in mind, we prototyped the concept of a digital marketplace and tested the appetite for different types of services, as well as new ways of accessing them. We then worked with Haringey to help them transition users onto the new model.

Impact

With FutureGov’s practical support, Haringey continued the project by researching and prototyping a new alpha service with 20 users. It’s now implementing an action plan alongside its partners. The new model has helped to transform the perception of the council from a traditional ‘service provider’ into a useful ‘collaborative facilitator’.