Equal Care Co-op
Equal Care Co-op’s digital care platform
Sevice Area:
adult social care
Sevice Area:
adult social care
Background
Across the UK, nearly two million people have unmet care needs and nearly ten million, disproportionately women, provide unpaid care. Exploitative employment practices by for-profit providers have contributed to declining social care services. On-demand digital platforms have too often disempowered care workers, stripping away basic labour protections and imposing forced flexibility and low wages. Workers rarely have opportunities for career progression or the chance to assume wider responsibilities. Providers struggle to recruit and retain staff. All this impairs care quality.
It is commonplace for people getting support not to know who will turn up to provide care each day. A range of different (often new) caregivers may support one person in any week. This means they lack familiarity with someone’s unique needs, risking harmful results. The effect can be worsened when communications are mediated through the provider company, rather than directly through the caregiver.
Local Action
Equal Care Co-op (Equal Care) is a digital platform social care co-operative, founded in 2018 – the first of its kind in the UK and globally. With backgrounds in the mental health and social enterprise sectors, the two founders, Emma Back and Kate Hammon, attribute their inspiration to the Recovery Movement, disability rights, co-production and the sharing economy. The ethos and values surrounding these ideas, particularly in terms of rethinking power dynamics entrenched in the health and care sectors, have decisively informed Equal Care’s development. Equal Care is owned and operated by the people who receive and give support.
The co-op is situated in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, matching locals seeking care with care and support workers and professionally trained volunteers nearby. Currently, the platform incorporates a calendar, a list of profiles, a method (known as ‘hats’) for organising roles and responsibilities within Equal Care Teams and Circles and an integrated chat so team owners (the people getting support) and their families can identify and communicate with paid caregivers.
Teamwork is a core component of Equal Care’s model, which places control over service delivery in the hands of caregivers and receivers together. The team owner chooses and owns their personal team of care workers through the platform, ensuring continuity of care and thus fostering stronger caregiving relationships. The number of people a care receiver sees for support is significantly reduced by planning rotas on a per team basis, rather than centrally.
Within each team, members hold nominated roles (hats) depending on members’ experiences and relationships to each other and/or the care receiver. Hats are decided by the members, varying from team to team. This system encourages a wide distribution of labour, so workers can be remunerated for a range of roles beyond solely care giving, including recruitment, training, peer observation and supervision, and management of rotas and medication. In this way, knowledge and expertise is spread more widely and burnout levels are minimised as job sharing reduces concentrations of power and responsibility.
Impact on local residents
Equal Care has greatly improved service quality for those using the platform in Calderdale. Just over 90 care workers are part of the platform, supporting around 70 people locally.
Across the sector, service users typically receive care from around 10–40 different people, while at Equal Care it averages at 1.8 individuals. Facilitating consistent support and thus the development of real empathy and stronger relationships improves care quality. Intuitively, continuity of care is likely to have better health outcomes than uncertainty and constant change. Equal Care has received affirming feedback, with team owners’ families describing it as a life saver. The reversal of dementia symptoms (thought to be exacerbated and accelerated by the disorientating effects of conventional care systems) has been recorded for some people.
The efficiencies Equal Care delivers ensure that workers not only receive a more equitable rate in comparison to typical agencies, but also a better quality of life. Under this model, greater control and thus flexibility allows staff to self-regulate, establish boundaries in caregiving relationships and achieve a healthier work life balance. Equal Care’s care worker turnover is very low, at 4%, compared to the industry standard of around 30%.
Environmental Impact
Equal Care has been designed for greater efficiency, by placing control with workers and reducing the number of caregivers seen per person. Working in this way can reduce travel distances for care workers and streamline resource management as well as enable workers to juggle their own family caregiving responsibilities. Staff self-manage and oversee their rotas so it is up to them to take advantage of these efficiencies if they want to. To cut emissions, Equal Care also provides an e-bike scheme for workers as an alternative to driving.
What's next?
Some aspects of the platform are still basic in terms of functionality, so the co-op is planning to develop new and upgraded features, such as integrating payments. To make these improvements, another tranche of investment is required. Funding has been a major restriction for developing software. Unlike privately owned, profit-driven care platforms Equal Care cannot turn to capital funds for investment. Financial viability is a critical hurdle for developing this kind of service.
Many aspects of Equal Care’s approach have evolved during its six years of operation, from its theory of change to its service development strategy and overall governance model. A core focus on power dynamics is particularly difficult to quantify, so the co-op’s evaluation methods are continually adapted to optimise future decision-making and efficacy.
Equal Care has inspired other recently formed social care co-ops in the UK. Its journey has helped inform the development of organisations such as the Great Care Co-op and Ealing Care Co-op. It will continue to offer guidance in this increasingly important service area.