Range of services

Our institute follows an interdisciplinary approach, offering well-grounded expertise in sociology, social work, economics, political science and law. We focus on how the sub-systems within social security function, how they interrelate and how they are embedded in social developments and contexts.

Research and development

Our core competencies lie in social structure analysis, the analysis of time sequences in social security systems and their interfaces, the impact of socio-political services, measures and interventions, and the social impact of societal changes.

We strive to meet exacting standards in terms of scientific rigour and the development of junior researchers, with foundational research and contract research alike being core components of our project portfolio.

Consulting services

Our interdisciplinary team, drawn from the fields of sociology, social work, economics, political science and law, offers well-grounded expertise and methodological knowledge.

Our services include:

  • Quantitative analyses of all kinds, work with administrative and process data and complex data linkages
  • Targeted impact and evaluation studies
  • Support with designing and executing surveys
  • Qualitative interviews, expert interviews and focus groups
  • Legal opinions in the field of social security
  • Bespoke collaborations with internal partners at BFH, especially the Business School and the School of Health Professions, as well as partners from universities, private research bureaus and survey institutes

People affected by multiple issues at once have no option but to seek support from several professional services at the same time. Their need for support is addressed by social services, labour integration, psychiatry and other institutions involved. 

Within this support process, the interdisciplinary cooperation between multiple stakeholders from different specialist disciplines poses a particular challenge. This is because coordinating services from the fields of social, health, justice and labour integration for client groups with multiple issues necessitates a consultation process focused on the needs and goals at hand. 

Inter-institutional issues with coordination or conflicting goals can lead to duplications and misunderstandings which, in turn, cause friction, incur undesired costs and give rise to human suffering. 

The «case management» action concept offers a standardised approach in such situations and has proven its worth in practice. It ensures that the complex support needed by client groups with multiple issues can be provided in a sustainable way – even in an interdisciplinary environment – with an eye to the goals at hand. Under this approach, the case manager handling the case in question oversees the process and ensures that the agreed services are being rendered in line with the clients’ needs, as identified, and that the desired benefit is actually evident.

Providing services in line with the «case management» action concept impacts the organisation on various levels: anchoring the case management concept within an organisation’s operations requires a binding commitment towards case management within the organisation and the entities involved. When it comes to successfully integrating the consultation process into an institution, it is wise to develop a customised «case management» concept with clear goals, regulated areas of responsibility and a systematically updated network with individual institutions. In turn, this ensures that the case manager can rely on cooperation with the relevant partners during their day to day work.

Our services, from concept to implementation

We provide the knowledge required to put case management into practice. We assist you with its implementation and reflect on opportunities and stumbling blocks alongside you. We advise and support organisations… 

  • in developing and refining case management concepts. We ensure a target-oriented, structured 
  • project management approach for putting the concept into practice. 
  • Managers play a particularly crucial role in implementing case management, but employees also need additional qualifications.

As a result, we offer… 

  • two-day or multi-day courses for executive management to learn the core aspects and familiarise themselves with the relevant tasks and functions. 
  • internal training courses to teach process security and the necessary underlying knowledge for a process-focused approach.
  • target-focused and needs-based coaching sessions in which questions and concerns from the practice of implementation are taken up and reflected upon. This enables staff and managers to develop creative strategies for integrating potential into the implementation of case management and for finding a constructive approach to resistance.

We’d be happy to arrange a personal consultation.

The question of the effectiveness of integration measures is a controversial topic among experts. This is because their success is often solely measured by means of the placement rate in the primary labour market: the impact on factors such as social integration, health, language ability, labour market skills or future prospects fades from view. To rectify this shortcoming, we worked with socialdesign ag to develop a measurement tool that follows a holistic approach.

WiMe-Int© is a tool to measure the effectiveness of integration programmes by looking at various dimensions of impact, enabling the impact of integration programmes to be assessed in a holistic, standardised way.

Interested in having your programme objectives reviewed?

We offer the following packages:

The basic module offers two measurement time points per programme participant: upon entry (zero measurement) and upon exit (success measurement). The survey is either undertaken on the phone by BFH staff or completed online on a PC at your premises. You will receive training on this ahead of time so you can systematically plan and monitor the survey and understand how you can best support programme participants when they are filling out the questionnaire.

The benefit for you

Subsequent to this, you will receive a detailed report with the following components:

  • Target group analysis: a detailed description of the programme participants, using the income indicators. This is achieved via descriptive statistics. The findings are classified using published results and various reference values (including the Swiss Health Survey and the Statistics on Income and Living Conditions collected by the Federal Statistical Office, for instance).
  • Impact analysis: the measurement of the changes between the two survey times using the outcome indicators. The significance of changes between the survey times is calculated using a comparison of the means. The extent of this is then analysed using the effect size.
  • Multivariate impact analysis: illustration of the significant influencing factors relating to the central outcome indicators, using regression analyses. 

There is the option of expanding the impact measurement to include the following additional modules:

  • a sustainability measurement (approx. 6 to 12 months after programme completion)
  • programme-specific issues
  • cost/benefit analysis

Please see our fact sheet for details about WiMe-Int©. 


We would be pleased to draw up a tailored quote for you.

Continuing education

As the way in which we live and work is changing, and with the emergence of new technologies and new principles, the social security system is left facing major challenges. As an expert in this area, you need in-depth knowledge about these interactions and the interplay between the various social security sub-systems. With our part-time continuing education programmes, we hope to support you to fulfil your demanding role with the utmost professionalism.