People-centred and integrated health services: an overview of the evidence

This Interim Report accompanies the World Health Organization (WHO) global strategy on people-centred and integrated health services, by presenting some of the evidence on strategies to implement people-centred and integrated health services. It presents a number of case studies and the evidence on the benefits that people-centred and integrated care can bring to people, communities and countries.

The interim WHO global strategy discusses the five strategic directions towards people-centred and integrated health services and looks at the different approaches used to achieve them. It looks at examples from around the world, in differing country contexts, and identifies some models of good practice and lessons learnt. It further considers some of the issues involved in leading and managing change in the health sector, and how to measure success and build learning into the process.

The interim WHO global strategy went throuh global consultations and was reviewed and re-published under the name ...

Framework on integrated, people-centred health services

This Framework proposes five interdependent strategies for health services to become more integrated and people-centred. It calls for reforms to reorient health services, putting individuals, families, carers and communities at their centre, supported by responsive services that better meet their needs and respect their preferences, and that are coordinated both within and beyond the health sector, irrespective of country setting or development status. These reforms also incorporate a human rights approach, enshrining access to health care as a basic right, without distinction of ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability, political belief, and economic or social condition.

This document builds on the interim WHO Strategy on people-centred and integrated health services, published by the WHO in March 2015. It  incorporates the comments and suggestions gathered through a broad stakeholder consultation process: a web based-public consultation open to individuals and organizations (closed October 2015) and regional and Member State consultations (ongoing). The Framework ...

WHO global strategy on people-centred and integrated health services

This interim report, the WHO global strategy on people-centred and integrated health services, presents a compelling case for a people-centred and integrated health services approach, along with a look at the way forward. It is accompanied by the document "People-centred and integrated health services: an overview of the evidence".

Guidelines for reporting of health interventions using mobile phones: mobile health (mHealth) evidence reporting and assessment (mERA) checklist.

The WHO mHealth Technical Evidence Review Group developed the mHealth evidence reporting and assessment (mERA) checklist to improve the reporting of mobile health (mHealth) interventions.The development process for mERA consisted of convening an expert group to recommend an appropriate approach, convening a global expert review panel for checklist development, and pilot testing the checklist. The guiding principle for the development of these criteria was to identify a minimum set of information needed to define what the mHealth intervention is (content), where it is being implemented (context), and how it was implemented (technical features), to support replication of the intervention. The paper presents the resulting 16 item checklist and a detailed explanation and elaboration for each item, with illustrative reporting examples. Through widespread adoption, it is expect that the use of these guidelines will standardise the quality of mHealth evidence reporting, and indirectly improve the quality of mHealth evidence.

Can service integration work for universal health coverage? Evidence from around the globe

Universal health coverage (UHC) is at the heart of the new 2030 Agenda for SustainableDevelopment. Health service integration is seen by World Health Organization as an essen-tial requirement to achieve UHC. However, to date the debate on service integration hasfocused on perceived benefits rather than empirical impact. We conducted a global reviewin a systematic manner searching for empirical outcomes of service integration experimentsin UHC countries and those on the path to UHC. Sixty-seven articles and reports were found.We grouped results into a unique integration typology with six categories – medical stafffrom different disciplines; patients and medical staff; care package for one medical condi-tion; care package for two or more medical conditions; specialist stand-alone services withGP services; community locations. We showed that it is possible to integrate services indifferent human development contexts delivering positive outcomes for patients and clin-icians without incurring additional costs. However, the improved outcomes shown wereincremental rather than ...

Developing care for a changing population: Supporting patients with costly, complex needs

Patients with multiple chronic conditions are a challenge for health care organization. In this report, it is offered a review of the most recent evidence regarding new models of care, and they are summarized in 10 points: (I) There are no specific ‘European’ answers to the problem of high cost/complexity, but a growing body of policy-relevant evidence is emerging, (II) Multifaceted interventions seem to work best for complex problems , (III) Identifying who is at risk of complexity is a crucial first step , (IV) The needs of patients identified as ‘complex’ are likely to vary considerably , (V) Good outcomes for complex patients need to be rooted in patient preferences and are likely to include non-medical goals, (VI) Interventions may not reduce high costs, at least in the short term, (VII) Chronic care models may not be fit for purpose for complex patients, (VIII) Although highly relevant, the implications for the ...

Instruments Measuring Integrated Care: A Systematic Review of Measurement Properties

Integrated care is an important strategy for increasing health system performance. Despite ots growing significance, detailed evidence on the measurement properties of integrated care instruments remains vague and limited. This systematic review aims to provide evidence on the state of the art in measuring integrated care. 

Paradoxes of person centred care: A discussion paper

Ethical challenges and principles in integrated care

Integrated care is an established approach to delivery in parts of the healthcare infrastructure, and an ideal which, it is claimed, should be realized system-wide. Its ethical weight derives from its defence of a view about how healthcare ought to operate. Although the goal of integration is laudable, it is ethically and practically complex, involving trade-offs.