Strengthening a competent health workforce for the provision of coordinated/ integrated health services

The paper proposes a list of competencies to be consolidated by the health workforce in order to realize coordinated/integrated health services delivery. To this end, the paper proposes a cycle for the process of competencies consolidation, identifying strategies required at the services delivery level and possible tools for implementation as well as describing the enabling conditions at the health system level and providing an overview of roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders involved.

The State of Health Care Integration in Estonia

This paper summarizes an assessment of the state of health care integration in Estonia and its driving forces. In the absence of a widely accepted definition, this study defines health care integration as:

i) the delivery of care in the appropriate care setting and

ii) coordination and continuity of care across care settings.

The study focuses on integration issues related to the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, with particular attention to the role and functioning of primary care and equity issues. The findings of this analysis therefore do not provide a comprehensive assessment of quality within specific care settings (i.e., primary care, acute inpatient care, etc.), nor of overall health system performance. Yet, they constitute one of several inputs that may be relevant for future policy changes.

These study findings are based on a quantitative analysis of health insurance claims data plus stakeholder interviews and focus group discussions ...

Making Integrated Care Happen

IFIC Ireland will host and facilitate a series of 6 webinars throughout 2020 titled ‘Making Integrated Care Happen’ which forms one of the key delivery mechanisms enabling knowledge mobilisation across all stakeholders with an interest in developing and implementing integrated care within the healthcare systems on the island of Ireland.

It is important that those taking integrated care forward are enabled to share their experience, success and failures with others. Spread and sustainability can be accelerated if innovators and leaders are supported to work together in learning networks through which information and intelligence can be shared. This helps to avoid the same mistakes being made, can avoid unnecessary duplication of effort and can help build commitment and support by enabling leaders to work together in a community of practice.