Tech for Better Care A programme exploring the potential for using technology to enable care at home and in the community
- Tech for Better Care was a £2 million innovation programme exploring the potential for using technology to enable better proactive and relationship-focused care at home and in the community.
- Initially, 10 teams were chosen from across the UK to develop promising new ideas. In phase two, six teams tested their ideas. During phase three, three teams were supported to pilot their new approaches to care.
- The programme began in September 2023 and ended in April 2026.
The care system in the UK is under immense pressure, resulting in care that’s falling short of expectations for staff, carers (paid and unpaid) and care recipients.
New approaches to care are needed, and with that an opportunity to think more long-term about the kind of care that we want in the future: care that puts the recipients’ needs at the centre; care that focuses on relationships rather than transactions; and care that’s proactive rather than reactive. Technology can be a key enabler to making this happen.
Given the current pressures on time, resource, and capacity facing the NHS and social care, it can be challenging to make progress on ideas. This is why the Health Foundation developed the Tech for Better Care funding programme.
About the programme
Launched in September 2023, Tech for Better Care was a £2.2 million innovation programme exploring the potential for using technology to enable care at home and in the community.
The programme supported teams from across the UK to develop, test and pilot approaches to care that focus on the caring and enabling relationships needed between those who deliver and those who receive care, and on care that is proactive in supporting people to live a better and more independent life where possible.
Teams are supported through a three-phase innovation process, with the most promising ideas taken forward to the next phase:
- Phase one: Explore ideas (October – November 2023)
- Phase two: Test ideas (March – July 2024)
- Phase three: Pilot ideas (November 2024 – April 2026)
Social Finance was the support partner for the programme, working alongside teams providing expertise, support and guidance. Ipsos was the evaluation supplier, and undertook a developmental evaluation of the programme to capture learning, support decision making and build evaluation capability within teams
Programme design
In 2022, the Health Foundation commissioned PUBLIC to help us understand the complex topic of technology-enabled care at home and in the community, and how a new Health Foundation programme could make a difference. The final report, Technology enabling new models of care in the home or community: analysis recommendations (authored by Liam Cahill on behalf of PUBLIC), brings together the findings from interviews and workshops with those who receive care, deliver care and decision makers at provider, system and national levels. Insights and recommendations from the report and our work with PUBLIC resulted in the first iteration of the Tech for Better Care programme.
Programme evaluation and learning
An independent evaluation of the programme was delivered by Ipsos, which adopted a theory-based approach using contribution analysis to assess the programme's influence on the developing models of care across funded sites.
Further information on the programme contributions is available in the final evaluation report, while key learnings are summarised below and in our blog published in October 2026, Putting people at the heart of technology-enabled care.
Key learnings
Structured user engagement from the outset of the programme and throughout funding phases enabled teams to strengthen ideas in ways that they would not have otherwise been able to (see p. 20 of final evaluation). This enabled the service concepts to focus on real needs, and to be based on user insight, resulting in more usable and acceptable services. Therefore, funding capacity and capability in user-centred design practices as part of programmes supporting technology-enabled care is important.
The programme structure of phased funding and dedicated support enabled teams to design and pilot tech-enabled models of care that were relational and proactive. However, while pilots showed promise, the long-term embedding and scaling of these new models of care in the current health care system is uncertain. Therefore, to go beyond piloting and to have sustained impact, future funding models must better support teams to navigate, disrupt and embed into the current systemic barriers (see p. 51 of final evaluation).
While pilots are unlikely to be able to generate clear evidence of impact, it is important to consider the evidence needs required for the future sustainability during early stages of planning. This means protecting time and resource for thinking about and undertaking monitoring and evaluation which aligns this to the relevant funding landscape. This will enable innovations to be planned with sustainability effectively considered and strengthen the evidence underlying the innovation's value proposition.
Future funders of technology-enabled care innovation programmes should fund in a way that extends beyond simply providing grants. Providing funding for frontline teams to develop early-stage ideas is most successful when it empowers local, experienced teams to partner with local organisations to achieve a shared priority. Programme structures should therefore actively empower teams to navigate system constraints and include protected time to co-design with patient communities, staff and local partners (see pp. 30–2 of final evaluation).
The short timeframes of phase one led to a shift in focus to more responsive and easier to access patient groups. However, we identified how important it is to address digital exclusion in technology-enabled care programmes. This includes providing non-digital and low-tech options alongside onboarding support and coaching; using carers and community access points; working with community-based organisations to enable responsive outreach; and planning for patient affordability. Funding programmes should therefore consider how their scope and timeframes can better enable meaningful engagement with people experiencing inequalities (see pp. 48–9 of final evaluation).
Projects – phase three pilots
We started with an initial cohort of 10 teams, with six awarded further funding and support to test their ideas. From November 2024, three teams were awarded funding to pilot their ideas.
Projects – phases one and two
From September – December 2023, 10 teams were given funding and support to explore and refine their early ideas. This included working with people who deliver and receive care to understand needs and opportunities for the new approaches to care. Six teams were then supported to test those ideas (March – July 2024), prototyping and iterating their concepts with users, communities, and stakeholders.
Exploring how technology can enable self-directed support, reduce administrative burden, improve communication and connect individuals to a self-directed community.
Exploring how technology can be used to support patients, and those closest to them, at the end of their life to access palliative care and support at home.
Exploring a new digital matching platform, providing an opportunity for more people who may be on the edge of crisis to benefit from day or respite support within Shared Lives.
Exploring a relational and collaborative experience of receiving, giving and self-administering care, using wearable technology solutions, in order to connect the patient, care teams and wider network of problem solvers.
Exploring how technology can support the council’s Home Support Service to foster care circles around people in Powys, providing enhanced relational and proactive support.
Exploring whether a digital platform for neuropsychological rehabilitation can be used to support community health care professionals to deliver more effective care and whether it can be integrated into the care pathway and then scaled up to meet current demand.
Exploring how technology can provide holistic support for carers to live well and stay well and be reached before they become fatigued or depressed.
Additional tech-enabled care projects
We received hundreds of applications to be part of the Tech for Better Care programme, outlining innovative and promising proposals. In addition to the 10 teams selected to be part of the programme, we also awarded funding to three high potential projects to develop their ideas.