Inclusion Health: Education and Training for Health Professionals: END of STUDY REPORT

The concept of Inclusion Health is founded on the premise that not all UK citizens have access to the highest standards of healthcare. Meeting the health needs of a small group of socially excluded individuals and their communities remains a challenge. This population has poorer predicted health outcomes and a shorter life expectancy than the average population. The National Inclusion Health programme for England was launched in March 2010 as a cross-government programme led by the Department of Health. It provides a framework for driving improvements in health outcomes for socially excluded groups. The rationale for setting up this framework is to increase the understanding and visibility of the health needs and health outcomes of socially excluded groups. The framework will also ensure that the services which support this population continue to improve, including continuity of care and building capability and capacity. One key activity within the framework is to ...

Developing a national cancer plan to coordinate the fight against cancer in Luxembourg

A national cancer plan was developed by the Ministry of Health to unite current services and coordinate the fight against cancer; ten priority areas for action were identified by the initiative: governance, health promotion, prevention, screening, diagnostics, treatment, rehabilitation, resources, patients’ rights and research; strong government commitment was essential for realizing a coordinated national approach; involving a diverse range of stakeholders from the beginning helped to guide the initiative; implementation of the national cancer plan is still in the early phases and any improvements will take time to observe.

Care Redesign Survey: To Improve Chronic Disease Care, Change the Payment Model

Many health care organizations are reasonably effective in treating chronic diseases, but they are limited from doing better by fee-for-service payment, which remains the predominant payment model in the United States. The latest NEJM Catalyst Insights Council report serves as a snapshot in time, showing the intent of health care providers to be proactive in treating chronic disease, but limitations in their ability to address population health

Levers for integrating social work into primary healthcare networks in Austria

The integrated healthcare of patients with support needs in primary healthcare in Austria has insufficient structural and procedural features in terms of the quality and security of care. The aim is therefore to develop solution- and patient-oriented services that take into account both the patients’ requirements as well as the medical, nursing, therapeutic and economic perspectives. 

Integrated delivery and continuity of care in times of crisis

Ensuring continuity of care in response to the Covid-19 crisis has been a key issue for public health and social care services across Europe. Whilst the implementation of local partnerships for integrated care delivery have been identified as a success factor, in many cases the reality on the ground has been one of a fragmented market. One, where providers of home care, residential care and supported living have been under pressure due to the lack of protective equipment, the fear of infection, and a reduction in the number of professionals.

Still a fragmented un-resourced system

In light of the Covid-19 crisis, care services have been reaping a bitter harvest of years of failure to invest adequately in public health and social care systems. While older people’s care services have been affected across Europe, the situation has been particularly difficult in two countries: the UK and Spain.

In Spain, the ...

Continuity and coordination of care at the heart of integrated people-centred health services (IPCHS)

There are many descriptions of integrated care. I particularly relate to one framed by National Voices: ‘’My care is planned with people who work together to understand me and my carer(s), put me in control, coordinate and deliver services to achieve my best outcomes.”  It speaks of a collaborative approach to achieve what really matters to the individual and their carer(s) and places coordination of care and support at the heart of integrated care.  For without effective coordination, even the most holistic care plan still leads to fragmented care, duplication, waste and harm.  

Continuity and coordination are vital, now more than ever. With increasing specialisation in healthcare, people meet many providers and frequently move between various teams at different points in the system as they experience multiple episodes of health and social care. At best, this may be well intentioned pursuit of the best quality care from the ...

The influence of leadership facilitation on relational coordination among primary care team members of accountable care organizations.

Teamwork is a central aspect of integrated care delivery and increasingly critical to primary care practices of accountable care organizations. Although the importance of leadership facilitation in implementing organizational change is well documented, less is known about the extent to which strong leadership facilitation can positively influence relational coordination among primary care team members.

Co-Creating Descriptors and a Definition for Person-Centred Coordinated Health Care: An Action Research Study

The aim of this study was to co-create a definition and generic descriptors for person-centred coordinated care for Ireland generated from service users’ narratives.

An overarching action research approach was used to engage and empower people to tangibly impact health policy and practice. Through focus groups and a qualitative survey, primary data were collected from a national sample of health services users, caregivers and health care service users’ representative groups. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Three major themes were co-produced as essential care elements. These were: ‘My experience of healthcare’, ‘Care that I am confident in’ and ‘My journey through healthcare’. Through an IPPOSI partner project steering group and their membership groups’ contribution, these themes were further refined into a definition of person-centred coordinated care and nineteen related generic descriptors.

Key findings demonstrate that within complex, fragmented healthcare systems, the subjective expectations of service users should be ...

Integrated Care - Defining for the Future through the Eye of the Beholder

The central defining features of integrated care which cuts across all stakeholders (people and communities, individual providers, a system of organisations, and policymakers) are continuity and coordination. Continuity occurs temporally and coordination occurs spatially. For the person at the centre of care, their experience is seamless across formal/informal care, professional, organisational and sectoral boundaries and continuous over time. For providers, they design care to effectively manage transitions from one profession, organisation or sector to another over multiple episodes of care. For policymakers, integrated care requires them to ensure that the wider context supports continuity and coordination and does not work against them.

Health Centres 75+ as a New Model to Improve Care for Older People in Poland

According to a recent national audit, the cost of treating patients in geriatric wards is 20-30% less compared to those treated in internal medicine wards. Yet, geriatric care remains largely underdeveloped in Poland, with few human, material, and financial resources. Despite numerous attempts to raise the profile of geriatrics over the years, little progress has been achieved. In 2019, experts under the President of Poland proposed the creation of a network of Health Centres 75+ as the first pillar of geriatric care. These are meant to provide ambulatory services for older people and coordinate provision of other health and social care services at the county level. The goal is to create a community model of care, whereby older people would receive needed services close to their place of residence, allowing them to live independently for as long as possible. Although the proposal has been welcomed by the geriatric community and ...

Adaptation and validation of the Ugandan Primary Care Assessment Tool

Patient-Centered Integrated Model of Home Health Care Services in South Korea (PICS-K)

As South Korea is fast becoming an aging society, the need for integrated care of the elderly has increased. ‘Community Integrated Care Initiatives’ have been implemented by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. However, home healthcare is insufficient to meet this need.