In 1997, the Ten-Care project was launched in the context of the European Union's TEN programme. It aimed at integrating off-the-shelf technologies into community care delivery processes. A range of technology components was implemented at several pilot sites across Europe. In Germany, the focus was on supporting mobile care staff of the Johanniter Unfallhilfe (JUH) - one of the major welfare organisations in Germany - in delivering home care services to older people in the region of South-Westphalia. The objectives were, on the one hand, to improve quality of service and, on the other hand, to re-design service delivery processes under particular consideration of cost efficiency aspects. This case demonstrates how important it is to enable social service providers to experiment with new technologies in a pilot context. Some of the benefits ultimately gained were not at all anticipated when the project was launched.
last update 2002-03-18