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Integrating care for older people with complex needs: key insights and lessons from a seven-country cross-case analysis.
- Source :
-
International journal of integrated care [Int J Integr Care] 2015 Sep 23; Vol. 15, pp. e021. Date of Electronic Publication: 2015 Sep 23 (Print Publication: 2015). - Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Background: To address the challenges of caring for a growing number of older people with a mix of both health problems and functional impairment, programmes in different countries have different approaches to integrating health and social service supports.<br />Objective: The goal of this analysis is to identify important lessons for policy makers and service providers to enable better design, implementation and spread of successful integrated care models.<br />Methods: This paper provides a structured cross-case synthesis of seven integrated care programmes in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK and the USA.<br />Key Findings: All seven programmes involved bottom-up innovation driven by local needs and included: (1) a single point of entry, (2) holistic care assessments, (3) comprehensive care planning, (4) care co-ordination and (5) a well-connected provider network. The process of achieving successful integration involves collaboration and, although the specific types of collaboration varied considerably across the seven case studies, all involved a care coordinator or case manager. Most programmes were not systematically evaluated but the two with formal external evaluations showed benefit and have been expanded.<br />Conclusions: Case managers or care coordinators who support patient-centred collaborative care are key to successful integration in all our cases as are policies that provide funds and support for local initiatives that allow for bottom-up innovation. However, more robust and systematic evaluation of these initiatives is needed to clarify the 'business case' for integrated health and social care and to ensure successful generalization of local successes.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1568-4156
- Volume :
- 15
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- International journal of integrated care
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 26528096
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.2249