Evaluating Large-Scale Integrated Care Projects: The Development of a Protocol for a Mixed Methods Realist Evaluation Study in Belgium

The twelve Integrated Care Program pilot projects (ICPs) created by the government plan ‘Integrated Care for Better Health’ aim to achieve four outcome types (the Quadruple Aim) for people with chronic diseases in Belgium: improved population health, improved patient and provider experiences and improved cost efficiency. The Belgian plan is based on the model of integrated care by the World Health Organization. The objective of this study is to deliver policy recommendations on strategies and best practices to improve care integration in Belgium and to implement a sustainable monitoring system that serves both policy makers and the stakeholders within the ...

What Do Parents Expect in the 21st Century? A Qualitative Analysis of Integrated Youth Care

To provide integrated Youth Care responsive to the needs of families with multiple problems across life domains, it is essential to incorporate parental perspectives into clinical practice. The parental perspectives on integrated Youth Care in this study emphasize that parents have a strong desire for a family-centred approach and active participation in decision making over their own care process. However, since parental expectations regarding these key components of integrated Youth Care are somewhat opposing, professionals should be aware of potential confusion and explicitly discuss mutual expectations during a care process. 

Towards an Integrated Care Organisation from a CEO Perspective

Many experimental projects towards Person-Centred Care (PCC) are successful in the early stages, but founder when the attempt is made to scale them up to encompass the whole organisation. This case study therefore focusses on one manager’s attempts to extend the successes of a preliminary project ‘Etxean Ondo’ that aimed to provide adequate support for the elderly living at home or in nursing homes, as well as for their families and care professionals.

Collaborative Experience Success Stories in Integrated Care of Older People: A Narrative Analysis

Inter-organisational collaboration is crucial in the care of older people, as is the development of integrated care. Storytelling in organisations is one way of understanding how to achieve successful collaboration. This article provides insights into the ways in which storytelling in collaborative experiences contributes to a collective identity instrumental in the successful collaborations involved in integrated care for older people.

Empowering Better End-of-Life Dementia Care (EMBED-Care): A mixed methods protocol to achieve integrated person-centred care across settings

It is known that the number of people with dementia continues to increase in the world. We also know that people with dementia live to advanced stages of the disease, so they will require comprehensive palliative care. The aim objetive of this work, is to promote a “step change” in care for people with dementia and their carers to enable delivery of timely person-centred care, to identify unmet needs and improve outcomes, including comfort and qualitive of life, towards end of life. Each of six-interdependent work streams (WSs) will deliver new knowledge and sequentially build a complex intervention to improve ...

Understanding integrated care at the frontline using organisational learning theory: A participatory evaluation of multi-professional teams in East London

Integrated care has been proposed as an organising principle to address the challenges of the rising demand for care services and limited resources. There is limited understanding of the role of learning in integrated care systems. Organisational Learning (OL) theory in the guise of ‘Learning Practice’ can offer a lens to study service integration and reflect on some of the challenges faced by multi-professional teams in developing a learning culture.

The study presents findings from two qualitative evaluations of integrated care initiatives in three East London boroughs, England, undertaken between 2017 and 2018.

Different Contexts, Similar Challenges. SUSTAIN’s Experiences with Improving Integrated Care in Europe

SUSTAIN stands for ‘Sustainable Tailored Integrated Care for Older People in Europe’ (www.sustain-eu.org). The SUSTAIN-project was carried out between 2015 and 2019 by thirteen partners from eight European countries: Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Norway, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

The SUSTAIN project was designed to support the development of integrated care for older people living at home with health and social care needs. Its objectives were twofold: 1. To support and monitor improvements to established integrated care initiatives and 2. To contribute to the adoption and application of such improvements to other health ...

The Over 75 Service: Continuity of Integrated Care for Older People in a United Kingdom Primary Care Setting

Continuity of care is concerned with quality of care over a period of time. It describes a process by which service users and their families are co-operatively involved with health and social care professionals in managing their care needs. Continuity of care can be divided into informational, managerial and relational and has been associated with improved user- and service-related outcomes. To date, there have been few studies which examine how continuity of care is developed and maintained in integrated primary care systems. 

Integrated Care for Older Adults: A Struggle for Sustained Implementation in Northern Netherlands

Integrated care has been suggested as a promising solution to the disparities in access and sustained high quality long-term care emerging in Europe’s ageing population. The Dutch integrated person-centred health service for older adults was based on two evidence-based models (the Chronic Care Model and the Kaiser Permanente Triangle). In this case study we assess the impact of the programme based on past evaluations, reflect on why it ended, lessons learned and ideas to take forward.

Supporting older people in remote areas in a post COVID-19 time

The COVID-19 pandemic, like other disasters, undermines older people´s capacity and chances of survival as a result especially of emergency induced mental health and psychological problems, and the breakdown in services for preventing and treating chronic conditions and for providing social support. Furthermore, maintaining relationships is often identified by older people as central to their wellbeing, but social distancing has transformed the lives of everyone in society and has changed relationships and personal contact as well. Here, we set out how the COVID-19 pandemic affects older people in remote areas specifically.