IPCHS Practices

Learn from real-life experiences with health services reform. We distinguish three types: emerging, promising and leading practices. Share your practice by clicking "Add practice".

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Sept. 7, 2016 Europe

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Reorienting the model of care, Coordinating services within and across sectors

Integrating occupational therapy into cancer care in the Netherlands

Reade – an organization specializing in rehabilitative care – introduced a package of services specifically tailored to the needs of cancer patients and cancer survivors; support from Reade’s management in developing protocols and negotiating with national-level actors was essential for the implementation of the initiative; providers within Reade were brought together to apply their skills to treating the complex needs of cancer patients and survivors. Providers work in multidisciplinary teams to enable the delivery of more comprehensive care; initiative leaders built strong working relationships with external providers. This helped bring other providers on board with Reade’s new care concept and ...

Sept. 7, 2016 Europe

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Reorienting the model of care, Coordinating services within and across sectors

Strengthening cancer screening in Montenegro

In 2008, the Government of Montenegro released the National Cancer Control Plan. Responding to recommendations proposed by the Plan, the Institute of Public Health developed a comprehensive cancer screening programme for colorectal cancer. Following successful piloting, the colorectal cancer screening programme is now being expanded to cover other priority cancers; partnerships with stakeholders outside of the health sector provided access to technologies and tools for engaging the public. Text messaging was the main tool used for outreach; moving from a reactive to a proactive approach was important for reaching and engaging the target population and increasing uptake of screenings; a ...

Sept. 7, 2016 Europe

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Reorienting the model of care, Coordinating services within and across sectors, Creating an enabling environment

Strengthening diabetes service delivery at the primary care level in Iceland

Following grassroots efforts to increase the role of primary care providers in managing patients with diabetes, formal clinical guidelines to support diabetes care delivery at the primary level were published in 2009. The delivery of diabetes-related care in primary settings is increasing as a result; knowledge gained through experiences working abroad provided inspiration for the initiative and fostered local innovation; informal discussions among providers had sufficient power to initially motivate and direct change; incorporating trainings for providers into the formal education system helped to establish a new standard of care and ensured sustainability of knowledge.

Sept. 7, 2016 Europe

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Reorienting the model of care, Coordinating services within and across sectors

Community support programmes for people affected by dementia in Athens, Greece

The nonprofit organization AAADRD opened four day care centres across Athens to directly provide support services to people affected by dementia. The organization also campaigned extensively to gain attention for their cause and pushed the government to develop a national dementia action plan; highly motivated actors directly affected by dementia or working in related fields played an important role in identifying and understanding service delivery gaps; as a specialized organization, AAADRD was able to mobilize a large network of dedicated supporters. Connections established with similar organizations furthered advocacy efforts; sustainability of the initiative relies on growing government commitment, securing resources ...

Sept. 6, 2016 Europe

Strengthening governance and accountability, Reorienting the model of care, Creating an enabling environment

Defining and standardizing primary care in Georgia

Government reforms aiming to establish universal health care, increase state involvement in the health system and strengthen regulation have been introduced; articulating a clear government vision ensured a strong foundation on which to build reforms; learning from previous experiences and seeking expertise from international partners helped the initiative avoid potential difficulties; inclusion of stakeholders in the design process helped build local consensus for change; following the strategy development process, detailed plans were drawn up to guide proposed reforms.

Sept. 6, 2016 Europe

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Reorienting the model of care, Creating an enabling environment

Advancing the role of nurses in Finland to improve patients’ access to care

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health promoted the shift of responsibilities from physicians to nurses through implementing supportive policies, legislation and incentives; partnerships and international networks facilitated information exchanges and offered inspiration for activities during the initiative’s design; national legislation provided the necessary framework for aligning changes in the professional scope of practice for nurses; the development of postgraduate advanced nursing programmes in partnership with universities supported the sustainability of the initiative and ensured the continuing development of nursing skills; advancing nursing roles contributed to professional empowerment and improved workplace well-being for both nurses and physicians.

Sept. 6, 2016 Europe

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Reorienting the model of care, Coordinating services within and across sectors

Telerehabilitation for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Denmark

A pilot programme to test home-based telerehabilitation for COPD patients was designed and implemented by researchers at Aalborg University; a supportive political and legislative environment provided a platform for furthering the development of e-health and telemedicine; partnerships with stakeholders outside the health sector supported the development of telemedicine and helped drive service delivery transformations; patients were given a more active role in care and new collaborative partnerships between patients and providers were developed; success of the initial pilot led to a larger-scale study with greater involvement of regional and municipal actors.

Sept. 6, 2016 Europe

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Reorienting the model of care, Coordinating services within and across sectors

Implementing targeted cancer screening programmes in the Czech Republic

The Ministry of Health developed a national cancer screening programme to increase population uptake of existing screening services. Through this programme, health insurance companies proactively send at-risk enrolees personalized invitations to participate in cancer screenings; strong Ministerial leadership provided an overarching direction for the initiative, promoting alignment across key stakeholders; use of available data helped identify key problems and supported tailoring of activities to meet observed gaps in service delivery; national information campaigns, run through various media channels, supported efforts by educating the public on the importance of cancer screenings; the initiative prioritized a proactive approach to addressing cancer mortality ...

Sept. 6, 2016 Europe

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Reorienting the model of care, Coordinating services within and across sectors, Creating an enabling environment

Introducing home care services in Bulgaria

The introduction of home care services was proposed as a patient-oriented solution for ensuring appropriate service provision closer to home; a pilot approach allowed the gradual rollout and testing of an existing home care model being implemented abroad, which was adapted to meet the Bulgarian context; efforts to introduce home care included creating new roles and responsibilities for the health workforce and developing information and communication resources; establishing the necessary health system conditions, including the development of a supportive legal framework, is an important area of focus for advancing the sustainability and scale of the current transformations.

Sept. 6, 2016 Europe

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Strengthening governance and accountability, Reorienting the model of care, Creating an enabling environment

Shifting towards community-oriented mental health care in Belgium

Changes to legislation, policy and care guidelines at the national level guided mental health reform and government funding was made available to promote the implementation of local community mental health projects aligned with the new national vision for mental health; top-down support for bottom-up ideas ensured both the necessary resources and local ownership needed to optimize mental health reform; a supportive legislative framework helped solidify a common vision for mental health reform, providing a unified focus for local efforts to align with; space for experimentation in the delivery of mental health care was allowed for, motivating locally-adapted projects and sparking ...