Creating a sustainable model of spine care in underserved communities in Botswana

As identified in the Global Burden of Disease report (2012), spine disorders present an enormous burden on individuals, their families, communities and societies and are the leading cause of disability worldwide. In Botswana, the burden of low back pain has been estimated to be the 5^th leading cause of disability adjusted life years (DALYS) in 2013 and neck and back pain combined is ranked as the number 1 cause of years lived with disability (YLDs), increasing from the third position in 1990 to the first position in 2013.  In the developing world the burden of spine disorders is expected to be higher than in high income countries; there is a critical lack of access to patient-centred, evidence based spine care in low income countries due to poor prioritization and integration of spine services and lack of available trained health workforce to manage these conditions.

Visionary leadership and reaching out ...

Professional groups driving change toward patient-centred care: interprofessional working in stroke rehabilitation in Denmark

Patient-centred care based on needs has been gaining momentum in health policy and the workforce. This creates new demand for interprofessional teams and redefining roles and tasks of professionals, yet little is known on how to improve new health policies more effectively. Their aim was to analyse the role and capacity of healht professions in driving organisational change in interprofessional working and patient-centred care.

Implications of interprofessional primary care team characteristics for health services and patient health outcomes: A systematic review with narrative synthesis

Interprofessional primary care (IPPC) teams are promoted as an alternative to single profession physician practices in primary care with focus on preventive care and chronic disease management. Characteristics of teams can have an impact on their performance.

However, the empirical evidence of the implications of IPPC team design on various aspects of care processes or health outcomes is specific to particular contexts, but a general understanding of optimal team design is not available.

“It’s Difficult, There’s No Formula”: Qualitative Study of Stroke Related Communication Between Primary and Secondary Healthcare Professionals

The proportion of people living with stroke is growing. In England, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidelines for stroke recommend that a person with suspected or confirmed stroke event is admitted to a specialist stroke unit, in order to receive required treatment promptly. Stroke rehabilitation follows, which involves providing stroke survivors with support and treatment from a multidisciplinary rehabilitation team. Stroke survivors’ transition from acute settings to rehabilitation can take place either in hospital, at home or the community.

One model of care is Early Supported Discharge (ESD), which offers community-based health and social care as an alternative to inpatient care. NICE recommend that transfers of care from hospital to community should include all pertinent health and social care information, given to relevant health and social care professionals and patients promptly.Long-term care led by generalists in the community is recommended and stroke survivors are encouraged to ...

General Practitioners and Community Pharmacists’ Collaboration in Primary Care: Small Steps for a Major Change

Healthcare authorities worldwide search for ways to develop integrated care and interprofessional collaboration. In Belgium, Medical-Pharmaceutical Concertation (MPC) was introduced as a format to promote constructive dialogues between GPs and community pharmacists (CPs) with a focus on pharmacotherapy.

This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of MPC from the perspective of healthcare authorities and GPs/CPs.

Care Integration in Primary Dementia Care Networks: A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study

Currently, care integration for community-dwelling persons with dementia is poor and knowledge on how to effectively facilitate development of integrated dementia care is lacking. The DementiaNet program aims to overcome this with a focus on interprofessional collaboration. The DementiaNet approach enables a transition towards more mature networks. Identified success factors provide better understanding of how network maturity can be achieved and gives guidance to future care integration strategies.

Developing an interprofessional people-centred care model for home-living older people with multimorbidities in a primary care health centre: A community-based study

The ageing population with multiple conditions and complex health needs has forced healthcare systems to rethink the optimal way of delivering services. Instead of trying to manage numerous diseases in a siloed approach, the emphasis should be on people-centred practice, in which healthcare services are tailored to people's needs and provided in partnership with them. 

The aim was to develop an interprofessional people-centred care model (PCCM), including the contribution of a clinically trained pharmacist for home-living multimorbid older people in primary care.

Construct Validation of the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care Measurement Tool in Dutch Primary Care for Older Adults

are integration in primary elderly care is suboptimal. Validated instruments are needed to enable the implementation of integrated primary care. We aimed to assess construct validity of the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care measurement tool (RMIC-MT) for healthcare professionals working in an integrated primary elderly care setting in the Netherlands.

Primary healthcare competencies needed in the management of person-centred integrated care for chronic illness and multimorbidity: Results of a scoping review

Chronic disease management is important in primary care. Disease management programmes focus primarily on the respective diseases. The occurrence of multimorbidity and social problems is addressed to a limited extent. Person-centred integrated care (PC-IC) is an alternative approach, putting the patient at the centre of care. This asks for additional competencies for healthcare professionals involved in the execution of PC-IC. In this scoping review we researched which competencies are necessary for healthcare professionals working in collaborative teams where the focus lies within the concept of PC-IC. We also explored how these competencies can be acquired.