Co-developing Program Theories for Best Fit Social Innovations in Long-Term Care: Lessons From a Cross European Implementation Project
Year:
2025
Author: Breuer, E., Kadi, S., Kahlert, R., Champeix, C., García-Soler, A., Grbevska, T., Ondas, K., Comas-Herrera, A., Oliva, S., Ulla Díez, S.M., Slavkoska, A., Stouthard, L., Iturburu, M., Galdona, N. and Ilinca, S.
Imagen:
Revista:
Journal of Long-Term Care, (2025), pp. 1–11.
The need for socially innovative models of care is crucial to meet the challenges posed by population aging. Social innovations developed in other settings often require adaptation to ensure that they are the most appropriate for a new environment.
We propose that participatory Theory of Change workshops can strengthen the development and adaptation of the most appropriate social innovations in long-term care by engaging multiple stakeholders to develop a planning theory that describes how a complex program or policy is hypothesized to work in a given context. We use an example from InCARE, an EU-funded project from 2020 to 2023, which aimed to develop and use participatory processes to design and implement social innovations for long-term care in Spain, Austria, and North Macedonia.
Theory of Change can work to develop a common vision with stakeholders, identify and adapt innovative ideas, engage early and meaningfully with stakeholders and partner with stakeholders who can support sustainability, as well as outline the challenges and limitations inherent in the Theory of Change approach.
