scholarly journals Cloud-based integrated socio-sanitary care e-services in Croatia: Lessons learned

2020 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 02004
Author(s):  
Igor Ljubi ◽  
Hrvoje Belani ◽  
Suzana Belosevic Romac
Keyword(s):  
Social Care ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Vascular Diseases ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Health And Social Care

Among many other services, modern governments offer both healthcare and social care to their citizens. Traditionally built in a silo structure and often using separate funding schemes, these two services offer limited possibilities for integration. Therefore, a novel approach is needed which will enable the integrated provisioning of both social and healthcare services to the citizens. This paper describes a platform for collaboration on multiple levels, provided to connect actors from healthcare and social care services – from primary care medical doctors to hospitals, and from home caregivers and/or family members to emergency centres for the elderly. Utilizing the cloud-based ICT tool, we have developed an integrated e-care model and introduced personalised care pathways for the elderly people suffering from various health problems (including heart failure, cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes and mental health issues). This model employs a patient-centric approach to care delivery, giving the patient (or the person acting on behalf of the patient) in power to control (and to share) any data relevant to treat patient's health condition. For the socio-sanitary care providers the benefit is the ability to influence clinical outcomes by remotely monitor and coordinate care initiatives. Using this approach, government has an effective aid to meet quality thresholds, generate clinical outcome metrics and improve satisfaction of the citizens using health and social care services.

scholarly journals Sharing a vision. Do participants in integrated care programmes have the same goals and objectives?

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 122-129
Author(s):  
Axel Kaehne
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Care ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Window Of Opportunity ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Care Services ◽  
The North ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Goals And Objectives

Integrating health and social care services remains one of the most difficult undertakings in the field of care delivery. One of the key requirements for success in integration programmes is a shared vision amongst care providers. Shared visions may contain views as to what the new services should look like, how it should operate and what it should be able to achieve. The paper reports findings of an evaluation of a service integration programme in the North of England. It confirms that a programme consensus on issues such as aims and objectives and programme logics is seen by participants as a key to success. Yet, the study also found that there is a specific window of opportunity in integration programmes when participating organisations start on relatively high levels of commitment and enthusiasm which tend to tail off relatively quickly. The paper closes with a discussion about the implications of the findings for programme designers and service planners.

scholarly journals A micro credential for interoperability

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Pamela Hussey ◽  
Subhashis Das
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Care ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Care Programme ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Health And Social Care

In the midst of a global pandemic the need for health and social care providers to commit to, and deliver on, integrated patient-centered care services has been accelerated. Globally, health and social care programme administrators are turning to digital devices and applications to provide supporting infrastructure which can offer safe access to health information at the point of care. Digitalisation is increasingly considered a key requirement to support diagnostics and therapeutic care services in health care delivery. The open source community are responding to this need to advance integrated care and digital services by providing targeted resources to address the interoperability challenge. Addressing interoperability in health systems is a core part of achieving sustainable enterprise wide integrated care. Using Open Innovation 2.0 methods for advancing knowledge on interoperability, this paper describes the development of a micro credential for knowledge transfer on interoperability created by the Centre for eIntegrated Care (CeIC). Designed and developed to signpost interested stakeholders to targeted material and build understanding and capacity on the topic. The design approach and initial resource content are explained through the lens of a specific research project funded by an Elite S Fellowship to advance leadership and standardisation for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Europe.

scholarly journals Geriatric health in Bangladesh during COVID-19: challenges and recommendations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Mahbub Hossain ◽  
Hoimonty Mazumder ◽  
Samia Tasnim ◽  
Tasmiah Nuzhath ◽  
Abida Sultana
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Access To Healthcare ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is impacting health globally, whereas older adults are highly susceptible and more likely to have adverse health outcomes. In Bangladesh, the elderly population has been increasing over the past few decades, who often live with poor socioeconomic conditions and inadequate access to healthcare services. These disparities are likely to increase amid COVID-19, which may result in high mortality and morbidity among Bangladeshi older adults. We recommend that multifaceted interventions should be adopted for strengthening social care and health systems approach to ensure wellbeing, promote preventive measures, and facilitate access to healthcare among older adults in Bangladesh. Such multipronged measures would require policy-level commitment and collaborative efforts of health and social care providers and institutions to protect health and wellbeing among this vulnerable population during the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals The barriers and facilitators to implementing dementia education and training in health and social care services: a mixed-methods study

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire A. Surr ◽  
Sahdia Parveen ◽  
Sarah J. Smith ◽  
Michelle Drury ◽  
Cara Sass ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Barriers And Facilitators ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
And Training ◽  
Dementia Education

Abstract Background The health and social care workforce requires access to appropriate education and training to provide quality care for people with dementia. Success of a training programme depends on staff ability to put their learning into practice through behaviour change. This study aimed to investigate the barriers and facilitators to implementation of dementia education and training in health and social care services using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) and COM-B model of behaviour change. Methods A mixed-methods design. Participants were dementia training leads, training facilitators, managers and staff who had attended training who worked in UK care homes, acute hospitals, mental health services and primary care settings. Methods were an online audit of care and training providers, online survey of trained staff and individual/group interviews with organisational training leads, training facilitators, staff who had attended dementia training and managers. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic template analysis. Results Barriers and facilitators were analysed according the COM-B domains. “Capability” factors were not perceived as a significant barrier to training implementation. Factors which supported staff capability included the use of interactive face-to-face training, and training that was relevant to their role. Factors that increased staff “motivation” included skilled facilitation of training, trainees’ desire to learn and the provision of incentives (e.g. attendance during paid working hours, badges/certifications). “Opportunity” factors were most prevalent with lack of resources (time, financial, staffing and environmental) being the biggest perceived barrier to training implementation. The presence or not of external support from families and internal factors such as the organisational culture and its supportiveness of good dementia care and training implementation were also influential. Conclusions A wide range of factors may present as barriers to or facilitators of dementia training implementation and behaviour change for staff. These should be considered by health and social care providers in the context of dementia training design and delivery in order to maximise potential for implementation.

Virtual Communities in Health and Social Care

2010 ◽  
pp. 332-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maonolis Tsiknakis
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Health And Social Care

This chapter provides an overview and discussion of virtual communities in health and social care. The available literature indicates that a virtual community in health or social care can be defined as a group of people using telecommunications with the purposes of delivering health care and education, and/or providing support. Such communities cover a wide range of clinical specialties, technologies and stakeholders. Examples include peer-to-peer networks, virtual health care delivery and E-Science research teams. Virtual communities may empower patients and enhance coordination of care services; however, there is not sufficient systematic evidence of the effectiveness of virtual communities on clinical outcomes. When practitioners utilize virtual community tools to communicate with patients or colleagues they have to maximize sociability and usability of this mode of communication, while addressing concerns for privacy and the fear of de-humanizing practice, and the lack of clarity or relevance of current legislative frameworks. Furthermore, the authors discuss in this context ethical, legal considerations and the current status of research in this domain. Ethical challenges including the concepts of identity and deception, privacy and confidentiality and technical issues, such as sociability and usability are introduced and discussed.

Virtual Communities in Health and Social Care

2011 ◽  
pp. 367-386
Author(s):  
Maonolis Tsiknakis
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Health And Social Care

This chapter provides an overview and discussion of virtual communities in health and social care. The available literature indicates that a virtual community in health or social care can be defined as a group of people using telecommunications with the purposes of delivering health care and education, and/or providing support. Such communities cover a wide range of clinical specialties, technologies and stakeholders. Examples include peer-to-peer networks, virtual health care delivery and E-Science research teams. Virtual communities may empower patients and enhance coordination of care services; however, there is not sufficient systematic evidence of the effectiveness of virtual communities on clinical outcomes. When practitioners utilize virtual community tools to communicate with patients or colleagues they have to maximize sociability and usability of this mode of communication, while addressing concerns for privacy and the fear of de-humanizing practice, and the lack of clarity or relevance of current legislative frameworks. Furthermore, the authors discuss in this context ethical, legal considerations and the current status of research in this domain. Ethical challenges including the concepts of identity and deception, privacy and confidentiality and technical issues, such as sociability and usability are introduced and discussed.

Mental Health and Social Care Providers Facing Requests of Assisted suicide from Elderly in Nursing Homes in Switzerland

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S11-S12
Author(s):  
D.A. Castelli Dransart ◽  
S. Voélin ◽  
S. Elena
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Older People ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Home Care Services ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Competing Interest

IntroductionIn some Swiss states, right-to-die associations are allowed to assist older people in nursing homes provided that certain requirements are fulfilled.ObjectivesTo investigate how health and social care providers and their institutions reacted to and dealt with requests of assisted suicide.MethodAn exploratory qualitative study was carried out in the States of Fribourg and Vaud among 40 professionals working in nursing homes, home care services or social welfare agencies.ResultsThe requests of assisted suicide questioned the professional mission, the quality of accompaniment provided to the older people and both professional and personal values. Health and social care providers were required to ponder over ethical dilemmas or decisions. Several challenges were reported, such as: taking into account and articulating personal freedom or needs with collective functioning or organizational constraints before, during and after the assisted suicide; reconciliating self-determination with protection towards vulnerable people (beneficere, non maleficere).ConclusionsAssisted suicide challenges and changes professional end-of-life practices. Education and support should be provided to health and social care providers faced with it.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Use of public health and social care services among the elderly in Finland: An under-examined mechanism of redistribution

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Vaalavuo
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Social Care ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Disposable Income ◽  
Income Quintile ◽  
Cash Income ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Out Of Pocket Payments

The opportunity to use public services supports older people’s livelihoods, although out-of-pocket fees can be a burden, especially for low-income pensioners. In this article, we analyse the use of health and social care services among the elderly in Finland. The objectives are two-fold: first, to study the distribution of public spending on services across income groups, and second, to investigate the related costs to the service-user. The article contributes to the debate on the welfare states’ redistributive function. The study is based on register data covering the total Finnish population in 2015. In our descriptive analysis, we focus on the distribution of the cost of production (based on detailed unit costs), user fees (calculated based on legislation) as well as reimbursements by social insurance and out-of-pocket payments for medicine, private services and travel costs. The results show that the amount of in-kind benefits is the largest in the two bottom income quintiles both in absolute and relative terms. We also see that the related costs to the client are small in relation to the monetary value of the service, although they amount to 9% of the disposable income in the lowest income quintile. It is noteworthy that benefits are highly concentrated on a small group of individuals. Public services create an important context for the evaluation of adequacy of cash income. Likewise, when we want to understand economic conditions of elderly people in a more comprehensive way, studying the share of disposable income going to health and social care is one important dimension. However, we also argue that we need to be cautious when making claims about redistribution through public services.

The oncology pharmacy in cancer care delivery in a resource-constrained setting in western Kenya

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 406-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Matthew Strother ◽  
Kamakshi V Rao ◽  
Kelly M Gregory ◽  
Beatrice Jakait ◽  
Naftali Busakhala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Care ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Multidisciplinary Care ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Resource Constrained ◽  
Western Kenya ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Resource Limited

The movement to deliver cancer care in resource-limited settings is gaining momentum, with particular emphasis on the creation of cost-effective, rational algorithms utilizing affordable chemotherapeutics to treat curable disease. The delivery of cancer care in resource-replete settings is a concerted effort by a team of multidisciplinary care providers. The oncology pharmacy, which is now considered integral to cancer care in resourced medical practice, developed over the last several decades in an effort to limit healthcare provider exposure to workplace hazards and to limit risk to patients. In developing cancer care services in resource-constrained settings, creation of oncology pharmacies can help to both mitigate the risks to practitioners and patients, and also limit the costs of cancer care and the environmental impact of chemotherapeutics. This article describes the experience and lessons learned in establishing a chemotherapy pharmacy in western Kenya.

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