The Belem Cultural Centre ,Lisbon was a perfect venue for this International Conference for Integrated Care where creativity flowed from guest speakers and in shared conversations about the work being done across the world from a movement of people: academic, medical and technical professionals mainly who joined and contribute selflessly, to make our healthcare systems function better than they do and to improve the patient & the healthcare professionals experience and clinical outcomes for better health.
1000 people strong from many countries with representation from the Portuguese Integrated Care Federation as the host country and newly developing networks with Brazil, mean this movement is truly global and growing.
From Lovexair and our commitment to Integrated care which started 15 years ago, in the early days of the EU’s initiatives to make care more holistic for patients and systems more transversal and multidisciplinary, we have come a long way. IFIC accepted our poster on Bronc@ir. A study which we co-designed with Esther Barreiros team, Hospital Puerto del Mar, Barcelona, to facilitate from HappyAir ecosystem a virtual model for bronchiectasis self-care management, in a shared pathway, home-hospital providing clinical, educational, and social support with the aid of our professional coach, Eva Maroto, as respiratory physiotherapist to the patients enrolled.
Our thanks to Hospital del Mar for working together on this protocol and patient management model and to patients for joining us in research to create virtual care pathways which help them have better health outcomes and manage their chronic respiratory disease more easily.
Canada, Australia, UK, Ireland have consolidated their efforts in integrated care for their healthcare systems management, but the struggle is still on for many of these professionals, as I found chairing the session Building Accountability and Resilience in Integrated Systems with outstanding presentations from real innovators in transforming our healthcare into good practice , better care, less burdensome and more efficient systems which can be achieved in spite of the lack of funding, lack of integrated data systems, cultural differences and fragmented systems each with its own inherited complications.
Yet people come together , learn from each other and progress. Patients and caregivers should realize how much effort, time and patience goes into this work and how the integrated care movement can benefit them as a multidisciplinary approach to care provision. Our civic organizations have opportunities to be part of the transformation in care delivery; to do so, we must learn how to work together with our healthcare teams and systems and where we can place our effort and make the patient journey more meaningful and beneficial.
From Lovexair, I would like to see our healthcare systems truly integrate our organizations when we also demonstrate that we can partner to provide competent services and care support or digital health resources which are lacking or insufficient, in our healthcare systems. This is especially true in comprehensive, holistic homecare.
Now we have the Lung Health Resolution, just approved by the WHA, there must be a way we can achieve this together for chronic respiratory diseases.
For citizen health to be preventive this is an essential part of a new roadmap, as behaviour change and adoption of new habits, make the difference in better health for patients ,caregivers and whole families. That role is not a part of clinical care in our healthcare systems and AI which gains importance and more relevance for prevention and prediction, personalization will not easily change how each person lives their life without a humanistic approach being part of the solution.
It is people at the heart of health and care that matter and that is what the Integrated Care Movement is continuing to demonstrate. And they do so, very convincingly.
Check out Shane Fitch's interview at ICIC25 Lisbon to learn more.
Shane Fitch
Lovexair Foundation
