THESIS SUMMARY Enterprises need to be adapted each time more in a flexible way towards an environment where user requirements and business goals are changing permanently, especially in the social & healthcare environment. That requires the capacity to influence in every activity of the software lifecycle IT (Information Technology) system, from structural organization to network infrastructure [DOE03]. In order to get it, it is essential the existence of a methodology and an architecture that allows the description and visualization of the system from different domains and relationships with the stakeholders in the e-health and e-inclusion fields . Nowadays, large and medium organizations are aware of the already existing need of an architectural reference framework for their systems. The thesis intends to solve this problem with the proposal of a methodology and a set of tools for the use of the different stakeholders in each different phase of the life cycle system. Therefore, thesis results are presented: • a study of the state-of-the-art about e-health, e-inclusion, their software systems and their architectures; • a proposal for an architectural reference framework within the socio-sanitary system, including the templates to document this architecture; • a description of two systems, HEALTHMATE and CONFIDENT, making use of the proposed methodology; • and an evaluation of the reference framework and the architectural descriptions The existence of a software architecture for a e-health or e-inclusion system, shaped in different views, allows also: a system documentation that makes easier the communication among the different stakeholders, the failure detection in early stages and the answer to any change in any system module and consequently, the reduction of costs of any type. It is shown, making use of HEALTHMATE and CONFIDENT examples, that the use of a reference architecture makes easier to document it without forgetting any point of view to consider and that the evaluation of an architectural description give us a set of indicators and advices to take into account in order to keep on or not with the project, preventing future errors.