The HACES project aims to safeguard and improve the

AN iMINDS ICON RESEARCH PROJECT
HACES
Automated, yet human-centred scheduling for improved home care
The HACES project aims to safeguard and
improve the quality of home care in Flanders
through more efficient task scheduling. Its
main objective is to develop automated
scheduling techniques and decision support
software. Not only should these be tailored
to the complexity of the Flemish home care
system, they should also take into account the
implicit knowledge of human planners.
Challenging schedules for home care
An ageing population, new family structures,
migration, less informal care due to dual careers:
our society is facing many changes that bring along
various new care requirements.
Home care organizations in modern society are
under pressure to deliver the required services.
Moreover, as a result of plummeting financial and
human resources, fewer home caregivers need to
carry out more tasks, faster than ever and for a
broader diversity of people. Scheduling all of these
tasks automatically, yet with the same sensitivity
of human task planners, could create various
benefits in terms of time, efficiency and coping with
complexity.
Carefully balance automation and human knowledge
HACES will create a decision support system that
combines high computational complexity with the
knowledge of experienced human planners. The
software should consider the same implicit factors
as human planners, for example. It should also
ensure flexible task planning in terms of duration
and frequency, and aptly delegate tasks to other
care providers — even non-professionals such as
family members.
FACTS
In doing this, the aim of HACES is threefold:
• scale down the home care scheduling process
from hours to seconds;
NAME
HACES
Human-centred Automated home
CarE Scheduling
TYPE
ICON project
DURATION
2015 - 2017
CONTACT
Leen Magchiels,
Landelijke Thuiszorg
lmagchiels@ons.be
PROJECT PARTNERS
Landelijke Thuiszorg
Gezinszorg Villers
thuiszorg vleminckveld
Tobania
IMINDS
RESEARCH GROUPS
ITEC - KU Leuven
CUO - KU Leuven
• cut the number of unplanned tasks by at least
10%; and
• obtain a scheduling software that meets the
expectations of home care planners everywhere.
To achieve these goals, HACES unites
complementary research partners, including home
care organizations, research and software players
in automated personnel scheduling, and experts in
human-computer interaction.
“The HACES project combines human knowledge
and high computational complexity into one
automated task scheduling software — perfect
for addressing the specific needs of the home
care sector in Flanders, and beyond.”
WHAT IS AN
ICON PROJECT?
iMinds is the digital research center and business incubator
for Flanders, Belgium. Its ICON research projects are agile
and demand-driven, combining academia and industry
partners. ICON projects typically have a duration of two
years, yet quickly adapt to the rapidly-evolving digital
landscape. ICON partners intend to use the project results
in their products or services.
The HACES project is co-funded by iMinds, with
project support from IWT.
HACES project partners
iMinds vzw
Gaston Crommenlaan 8/102
9050 Ghent Belgium
www.iminds.be
info@iminds.be
T +32 9 331 48 00