The Saiatu project has been piloting a new way of complementing medical palliative care with “intensive in home special social support” during the last 3 years in the Basque region of Northern Spain. The first documented results of this new way of supporting patients and their families during the last phase of their lives are very promising but we are not the only ones testing and documenting these new way of doing things. The Nuffield Trust has recently presented a well documented report that proves the same type of results: “the research further deepens our understanding of the substitution effect between health and social care services – information which is crucial to the effective commissioning of both sets of services, particularly during a period of financial austerity.”
The Saiatu project is also conducting a new survey to document the impact on quality and cost savings taking a larger group of families that are receiving this new complementary service in order to compare the results with those who only have access to the sanitary palliative care services. If the results prove to be as spectacular as Nuffield Trust´s report suggest, this new type of “in home specialized social support during the last phase of life” has the potential to change the way we dye in western countries.
The Saiatu project will be presented in London on 13 November with the participation of Euclid Network, the European Public Health Agency, EU DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Nesta, Bilbao Social Innovation Park, Bioef, Kutxa Bank, and many others.
Gorka Espiau blog 