The SMART HOME CARE project is the result of co-design and exchange between Need Institute and partners already deeply involved in the theme of active aging, such as Cooperativa Equa, Fondazione Cassoni, and KService, which have long been investing specific skills and energies to improve the quality of life of the elderly. To this group is added the valuable collaboration of Bocconi University and CERGAS – Center for Research on the Management of Health and Social Care, which will be a fundamental partner in evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed project and the construction of a new model.

The project idea starts from the premise that it is necessary to have a deep understanding of the need, both individual and collective, to adapt and build services aimed at the well-being of the elderly and the maintenance of their autonomy. We intend to propose a project that will involve self-sufficient and semi-self-sufficient elderly people who wish to continue living in their own homes, but benefiting from a range of useful and necessary services to maintain their autonomy. The general objective is to offer enhancement of existing and standardized services (SAD, CDI, RSA, etc.) dedicated to frail elderly people to make them not only more flexible and accessible but also personalized and designed around specific individual needs. Within the Smart Home Care project, two fundamental dimensions are intertwined:

1. Personalization of care, because we plan to study a system of personalized services (healthcare, social care, and housing) that are not standardized, but built around specific needs, agreed directly with the elderly person and/or their caregiver, aimed at maintaining residual autonomy within their home for as long as possible.
2. Territoriality and community, because they are fundamental ingredients to root the project and its potential, engage the target audience widely, create a network of organizations functional to the integration of services aimed at the elderly, and exchange useful information and reports.The experimentation will start from some apartments identified by Fondazione Cassoni in the Villaggio Barona, located in the homonymous neighborhood, and then extend to some other buildings and/or neighborhoods in Municipality 6 of the city of Milan.