Publications from ODSW Social Insights: Letters by DSW (Vol 1) | Page 38
Integration 2
health and social care in order to be more efficient. An example commonly
cited is the duplication of assessments by different professionals, with no
coherent approach among different service providers. There are often
bottlenecks and gaps in care pathways that arise from poor coordination or
an absence of coordination. There is a need too for the system to be more
responsive in terms of upstream capacity and resources especially in external
organisations such as vacancies for placements.
Moving Towards Integrated Care
So conceptualising integrated care is a relatively recent field of study in
various parts of the world and certainly here too. So what can be helpful for
an integrated care agenda even as we gain more experience? For a start,
we need to begin to develop coherent care policies that take cognizance of
the local configurations of care and that are financially sustainable. In the
local context, the role and support by the informal care network, home care
and Senior Activity Centres need to be discussed and adequately resourced
to avoid hospital readmissions. Investment in training and better still crosstraining of all professionals to facilitate coordination and to encourage mutual
respect is essential for a shared perspective.
Another common suggestion is the use of information technology to facilitate
standardised communication protocols, shared patient information, single
assessment procedures and defined care pathways.
Integrated care answers often lie at the community level so we need to shift
from the acute care paradigm to one that offers integration of health and
social care services challenging though this may be. The shift is urgent given
the rapidly increasing number of older persons requiring the management
of chronic diseases that often afflict the older population. This is where
integrated care is critical in enabling the older persons to maintain autonomy
and a high possible level of functional capacity and well being. This is an ideal
worth working towards.
24th June 2014
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