Understanding integrated care: a complex process, a fundamental principle

Recent Editorial in the International Journal on Integrated Care, written by Nick Goodwin, emphasising the importance of the Framework. Around the past year Nick Goodwin has been involved in a range of research and development activities that seek to understand and/or promote the successful adoption of integrated care. In each of these, a common opening statement from protagonists is to typically say that “there is no universally accepted definition of integrated care, no one model of care that can be replicated locally, and little evidence to tell us that it works”. Whilst the latter might be disputed it remains true that people struggle with what integrated care means and particularly how it can be applied.

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The SELFIE framework for integrated care for multi-morbidity: Development and description

The rise of multi-morbidity constitutes a serious challenge in health and social care organisation that requires a shift from disease-towards person-centred integrated care. The aim of the current study was to develop a conceptual framework that can aid the development, implementation, description, and evaluation of integrated care programmes for multi-morbidity. The framework structures relevant concepts in integrated care for multimorbidity and can be applied by different stakeholders to guide development, implementation, description, and evaluation. 

WHO launches an innovative package of tools to support person-centred and integrated care for older people

On the International Day of the Older Person (1st October) the World Health Organization (WHO) released a package of tools to support the implementation of the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) approach.

ICOPE, based on the WHO Framework on integrated people-centred health services, has been developed in the context of populations around the world ageing rapidly. It enables health and long-term care systems-and the services within them-to respond optimally to the unique, varied and often complex needs of older people.

The package of tools includes: the ICOPE Implementation Framework (guidance for policy makers and programme managers to assess and measure the capacity of services and systems to deliver integrated care at the community level); the ICOPE Handbook, which describes practical care pathways to detect declines in intrinsic capacity and develop personalised care plans; and the ICOPE handbook App, which helps implement ICOPE in community care settings.

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Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE)

How to adapt person-centered health services to ageing populations?

Every older person, everywhere, should have access to high quality and person-centred health services. That's why the World Health Organization has published guidelines on Integrated Care for Older People.

Learn more here: https://www.who.int/ageing/health-systems/icope/en/ and here: https://www.who.int/ageing/publications/guidelines-icope/en/

Populations around the world are rapidly ageing. It will increase demand for primary health care and long-term care, require a larger and better trained health workforce and intensify the need for age-friendly environments. These investments can enable the many contributions of older people – whether it be within their family, to their local community or to society more broadly. Universal health coverage for older people means quality health services that are integrated and person-centered.

Societies that adapt to this changing demographic and invest in Healthy Ageing can enable individuals to live both longer and healthier lives and for societies to ...

Towards integrated care systems (ICSs) Leading for integrated care

Leading across integrated care systems and integrated care partnerships (ICPs) requires a range of skills. These include being able to walk in other people’s shoes; having a constancy of purpose while retaining flexibility; and building the evidence base for change as a key tool for persuading the unconvinced of the need to redesign our model of care delivery.

Building on the recent report, "Leading for integrated care", this event will provide insights into the different leadership skills and behaviours needed to successfully secure more integrated care.

You will be able to hear from a range of different speakers from across the UK about how individual leaders from local government and the NHS are working in partnership to redesign services and in some instances place a greater emphasis on wellness.

Why the biopsychosocial model needs to be the underpinning philosophy in rehabilitation pathways for patients recovering from COVID-19

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has left many consequences, both social and health, on a social and individual level. In the face of individual sequelae, the need to address this need for care with an integrative approach becomes more important.The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has left many consequences, both social and health, on a social and individual level. In the face of individual sequelae, the need to address this need for care with an integrative approach becomes more important.

"For patients recovering from COVID-19, it will be impossible to separate the person and their personal circumstances from COVID-19, and to regard physical, psychological and social factors as independent entities. For this reason, we argue that the BPS model is needed with even more reason than before, and that it should be the philosophy of care to underpin rehabilitation in the recovery from COVID-19".

The long-term impacts of new care models on hospital use: An evaluation of the Integrated Care Transformation Programme in Mid-Nottinghamshire

In this briefing, the Improvement Analytics Unit – a partnership between the Health Foundation and NHS England and NHS Improvement – has found evidence that integrated care programmes have the potential to reduce hospital utilisation and that the best results are delivered when new ways of working start to become embedded.   

It is important that the analysis was?able to?look?at the impact of the programme?over such a long time. Integrated care programmes usually aim to reduce hospital admissions, however previous?evaluations?were not able to demonstrate?whether reductions in hospital use might begin to materialise over a longer period.?This briefing?provides?promising evidence that integrated care programmes have the potential to reduce hospital use over the longer?term, even if there are increases in the short-term.? 

The briefing also underlines the importance of ongoing evaluation when implementing new ways of delivering care. Having a mechanism for robust evaluation ...