Meet Integrated Care Pioneers in Edinburgh, Manchester and Wrexham!

Study tours offer a unique opportunity to meet integrated care pioneers in their natural environment and to experience and learn about integrated care practices from national and regional innovations. They are designed to support clinicians, managers and policy-makers with an interest and responsibility in the successful adoption of integrated care in policy and practice. Designed to be live case studies, the study visits offer the possibility to discuss regional and country-level strategies with the responsible decision makers, assess the barriers, facilitators and key drivers for integrated care at a regional and local level and reflect upon the transferability of lessons learned in moderated discussions and workshops.

The ICIC17 Three Country Study Tour will visit Scotland, England and Wales and seeks to examine the leadership and management of integrated care in these regions. Sessions will focus on the development of new models and approaches to care for older people with complex ...

Making it Easier: A Health Literacy Action Plan for Scotland

Making it Easier- a health literacy plan for Scotland 2017-25, builds on the current learning about health literacy and aims to remove and prevent barriers. Health literacy is the degree to ehich individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropiate health decisions

The new guidance aims to improve design and delivery of services founded on the following themes: 

- equal access

- shared decision-making

- people supported to live and die well on their own terms with the health conditions they have

Health literacy, the role of beliefs and barriers in Afghanistan. A quantitative study

The concept of health literacy (HL) is of growing interest worldwide but little is known about the status of HL in crisis-affected countries such as Afghanistan. Afghan health professionals report that HL and the health status are very poor and  cultural and religious belief and various barriers influence the health-related behavior. Following the assumption that improving HL may increase adequate health behavior, to measure HL and perception is of political , scientific and practical relevance. 

Barriers to, and opportunities for, palliative care development in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

The 22 countries of WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region are experiencing an increase in the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer. Of the six WHO regions, the Eastern Mediterranean Region is projected to have the greatest increase in cancer incidence in the next 15 years. Furthermore, most cancers are diagnosed at a late stage, resulting in a lower cancer survival rate than in the European Region and the Region of the Americas. With increasing numbers of deaths from cancer, palliative care should be available to relieve suffering in patients with advanced disease and at the end of life. However, in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the palliative care available is variable and inconsistent. Several barriers exist to the development and expansion of palliative care delivery in this region, including the absence of palliative care in national policies, little partnership working, insufficient palliative care education for health-care professionals and volunteers, poor ...

An integrative review of potential enablers and barriers to accessing mental health services in Ghana

The importance of accessible mental health treatment is a global concern, particularly when one in five people will experience a mental health problem in their lifespan. This is no less important in Ghana; however, no studies have yet attempted to appraise and synthesise the potential enablers and barriers to accessing services in Ghana. The aim of this integrative review is therefore to identify and synthesise existing evidence on the barriers and enablers to accessing mental health services in Ghana.

Supporting integrated care in practice: Perceptions of a national support programme for the development of New Care Models in England

This paper investigates the perceptions of key informants on a national support programme for the development of New Care Models in England (2015/16 to 2017/18). It focuses on the perceived facilitators and barriers affecting the development and implementation of the New Care Models programme and offers some insight into the role of national level support in enabling local integration initiatives. Besides the paper demonstrates that analysis of facilitators and challenges with respect to the national support of implementation of integrated care initiatives should move beyond the focus on separate influencing factors and address the tensions that the complex interplay among these factors create.

Facilitators and barriers of managing patients with multiple chronic conditions in the community: a qualitative study

Approximately one-third of all adults worldwide are diagnosed with multiple chronic conditions (MCCs). The literature has identified several challenges facing providers and patients coping with managing MCCs in the community, yet few studies have considered their viewpoints in combination. A qualitative study involving healthcare providers and users was thus conducted to examine facilitators and barriers of managing patients with MCCs in the community in Singapore.

Challenges in Implementing Integrated Care in Central and Eastern Europe – Experience of Poland

During their transition, Central and Eastern European countries’ health and social care systems have undergone significant changes, and are currently dealing with serious problems of disintegration, coordination, and a lack of control over the market environment, especially for meeting patients’ needs. The increased health and social needs related to the ageing society and epidemiological patterns in these countries also require increased funding, reformation of rationing, sectors to be integrated (the managed care approach), and the development of an analytical information base for surveillance of new health and social care solutions.

Community-based antiretroviral therapy versus standard clinic-based services for HIV in South Africa and Uganda (DO ART): a randomised trial

Maintaining high levels of adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a challenge across settings and populations. Understanding the relative importance of different barriers to adherence will help inform the targeting of different interventions and future research priorities.

Community-based delivery of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV, including ART initiation, clinical and laboratory monitoring, and refills, could reduce barriers to treatment and improve viral suppression, reducing the gap in access to care for individuals who have detectable HIV viral load, including men who are less likely than women to be virally suppressed. The aim to test the effect of community-based ART delivery on viral suppression among people living with HIV not on ART.

An unblinded, home-randomized trial (DO ART) of community-based ART administration compare with the clinic in rural and peri-urban settings in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Sheema District, Uganda.

Barriers and facilitators to patient-centred care in pharmacy consultations: A qualitative study with Malaysian hospital pharmacists and patients

Patient-centred care (PCC) has been suggested to provide benefits such as improved patient-healthcare provider communication and better disease self-management to patients. The practice of PCC should involve all healthcare professionals, including pharmacists who are well-positioned in providing pharmaceutical care to patients. However, a better understanding of the factors that can affect the practice of PCC in pharmacists’ consultations is needed.

Rehabilitation Workforce Challenges to Implement Person-Centered Care

There is an increasing emphasis on developing person-centered care in rehabilitation settings. However, this care practice has not been fully implemented due to several factors. This study explores rehabilitation workforce perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to implementing person-centered care (PCC). Participants described barriers such as an unsupportive organization and leadership, staff constraints, heavy workload, and resistance to change. Unique to this study, a patient’s clinical characteristics were identified as barriers to person-centered care. As facilitators, they described leadership, staff satisfaction, a positive physical environment, training and education, and shared decision-making. It is essential to understand the perceptions of the rehabilitation workforce, as they play an integral role in providing PCC. This study serves as a guide to facilitate person-centered care, as it provides an understanding of key barriers and facilitators for its implementation in rehabilitation settings.

Facilitators and barriers to professional nurses implementing integrated services in urban primary health care clinics in Kavango East region, Namibia

The World Health Organization (WHO) has advocated for the implementation of people-centred and integrated health services. Although there is growing evidence of integration’s benefits for sexual and reproductive health, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and rights, health services face tremendous resource constraints when it comes to integrating these services.

Barriers and challenges to integrated care

Integrated care is critical to the successful delivery of modern day health and social care services, however the implementation into practice poses many barriers and challenges. This article seeks to identify these barriers and present methods through which to aim to address and overcome these.