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The Department of Social Rights of the Generalitat has launched a web search engine for care centers for the elderly with detailed information and photographs of the spaces and services of each facility. Specifically, you can search for residences, day centers, sheltered housing and comprehensive care services in rural areas (SAIAR) for older people, both publicly owned and social or private initiatives. The new web search engine can be consulted at dretssocials.gencat.cat/buscadorresidencies.
This new website – which currently includes information on some 1,800 centers – represents a very important qualitative leap in the service offered to users and families. Using any device with an internet connection you can access information about the ownership of the center and the managing entity, how many places there are and how many public places, the average waiting time for access, what services are offered, what the facilities and rooms are like, contact or service hours. Maps with locations and photographs are also included. The cards can be downloaded or shared.
During the presentation of the website, the Minister of Social Dets, Carles Campuzano i Canadés, highlighted the great effort that the Department is making to position itself in the 21st century with initiatives like this, “of special relevance, since we are facilitating the service to citizenship, but we also work for the right of people to decide where they want to be cared for and we do so with the endorsement of the Generalitat.” “It is a leap forward in the commitment to transparency, which adds to other efforts we are making in the social field,” added the councilor, and gave as examples the creation of new places, the deployment of integrated social and health care , new models focused on personal care, new infrastructure or greater financing.
Users of the application can search by location and type of center (residence, day center, sheltered housing or SAIAR) and then apply the different filters. For example, proximity or waiting time or the type of place, facilities or activities that are organized can be prioritized.
Until now, families looking for a place in some type of senior facilities received a paper list of centers with the corresponding addresses. With the new search engine, not only is the information available to users greatly expanded, but it also translates into a gain for the autonomy of families and, at the same time, the workload of Serveis Socials professionals is alleviated. It is also a useful tool for center managers, so that they can publicize their services.
The search engine is part of the Digital Transformation Plan that the Department of Social Rights has launched to reinforce the effectiveness of social policies, modernize and legitimize the welfare state. The plan has more than 83 million euros of European funds, including those from the Next Generation EU.
The core of the plan is the eSocial platform, which brings together a set of 12 information systems (one of them, the website of residences and care centers for the elderly) that are transversally transforming all areas of the Department and connecting it with the different social intervention agents, together with the Center for Telecommunications and Information Technologies (CTTI). A project that allows you to automate procedures and reduce deadlines.
The search engine is already in operation, but it will be expanded with new information that the different participating centers will upload. At the moment, there are all public facilities, all those that receive public financing and also 90% of private establishments.
The Department is also working to later incorporate information linked to inspections and more functionalities for the user, for example, a private area where users can rate the service or know their place on the waiting list. It is also valued to include information related to care centers for people with disabilities or mental illness.
