Vincles BCN: collaborative care networks to address unwanted loneliness

Barcelona City Council · Department of Social Services · IMI · Civic Alliance

In Barcelona, unwanted loneliness among older and dependent people has become a structural challenge. More than 338,000 residents are over the age of 65, and one third are over 80. Demographic projections indicate that one in four residents will be over 65 by 2040. Loneliness negatively impacts health, autonomy, and quality of life, while increasing pressure on social and healthcare services.

In response to this context, Vincles BCN was developed as a city-led model to prevent and reduce loneliness through the activation of collaborative care networks around people experiencing isolation. Rather than expanding traditional service provision, the city redefined its role as a catalyst for networks of trust, connecting formal care systems with family members, neighbours, and community actors.

By combining in-person facilitation with a digital coordination platform, the model enables the creation and activation of structured “networks of trust” that strengthen wellbeing, improve care coordination, and optimise public resources.

The initiative received international recognition after winning the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge in 2014.

Objectives

• Reduce unwanted loneliness among older and dependent people
• Strengthen collaborative care networks by engaging family members, neighbours, and professionals
• Improve health and quality-of-life outcomes
• Increase the effectiveness and sustainability of social services
• Build a scalable digital and social infrastructure for community-based care

Methodology

• A proactive activation process in which trained facilitators contact people experiencing isolation and their caregivers to identify and formalise networks of trust.
• A digital coordination platform, accessible from multiple devices, connecting family members, neighbours, and professionals, enabling communication, alerts, and collaborative response.
• A people–public sector–private sector collaboration model aligning municipal services, civic organisations, and community actors to co-create care solutions.
• An open-source technological infrastructure designed to facilitate replication, scalability, and the development of new service layers.

The model integrates formal and informal care systems, creating synergies between professionals and community networks to improve service delivery and health outcomes.

Impact and results

Results

• Planned creation of up to 20,000 networks.
• Approximate participation of 200,000 people within two years.
• Increased frequency of interactions among network members.
• Measurable improvements in health and quality-of-life indicators.
• Platform-based monitoring of network size, activity levels, and user satisfaction.
• Implementation of randomised controlled trials to validate results.

Impact

• Demonstrated reduction of unwanted loneliness among older people through digitally coordinated networks of trust (Rodríguez-Giralt et al., 2024).
• Strengthened social cohesion and reduced loneliness among older and dependent people.
• Improved wellbeing, perceived safety, and autonomy through the activation of networks of trust (Rodríguez-Giralt et al., 2024).
• Increased effectiveness of social and healthcare services through the integration of formal and informal care.
• Reduced pressure on public resources through collaborative care coordination.
• Creation of a scalable digital and social infrastructure for community-based care.

Key learnings

• Unwanted loneliness is both a health challenge and an urban systems sustainability issue
• Coordinated networks of trust significantly improve wellbeing and resilience
• Digital platforms are more effective when combined with in-person activation
• Open-source infrastructure strengthens transferability and scalability
• Integrating formal and informal care increases efficiency and public value

Clients and partners

— Barcelona City Council
— Department of Social Services
— Municipal Institute of Informatics (IMI)
— Civic Alliance for an Inclusive Barcelona

Refrences

Rodríguez-Giralt, I., López-Gómez, D., & Beneito-Montagut, R. (2024). Digital social connectedness as a lifeline for older people: Use and non-use of VinclesBCN during the pandemic. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13753-024-00556-8