Publications from ODSW Social Insights: Letters by DSW (Vol 1) | Page 37

Integration 2

standard definition of ‘integrated care’. Various models in different countries
are at an experimental stage and we too must evolve our own principles of
integrated care and what integrated care implies in practice.
“[Integrated care] is a concept bringing together inputs, delivery,
management and organisation of services related to diagnosis, treatment,
care, rehabilitation and health promotion.” (Grone & Garcia-Barbero, 2001).
So the notion of integrated care has two important components: that of ‘care’
and that of ‘integration’. And we can safely say that integrated care seeks
to close the traditional division between health and social care. Ideally, it
should begin with the patient’s perspective as the organising principle of
service delivery and not begin with the typical supply-driven models of care
provision. Integrated care should therefore enable health and social care
provision that is flexible, personalised, and seamless.
Integrated care is likely to improve the quality and continuity of care when
the patient is the focus as she has greater satisfaction from a more seamless
care experience. It is that “one experience” that I talked about in my earlier
letter on integrated care. I also discussed about focusing on the user so
that the patient and her carers are no longer required to coordinate different
treatments and navigate across different providers. Hopefully, treatment then
is no longer ‘stop-start’ in nature and the patient and carers have a more
satisfying relationship with care professionals.
From a system delivery point of view, the success of health care interventions
is often dependent on social care provision. This is so because social care
services are able to provide a better insight as to how patients live. For
example, social workers can identify if medical problems result from neglect,
social isolation, overall status of the home, family situations or patients not
taking medication because they forget to, are not sure when to or do not
have any support for them to live more independently and go about their
activities of daily living.
Current concerns among medical social workers and community based
professionals evolve around improving coordination and integration across
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