In this insight, Gastón Perman reflects on what he is taking home from ICIC26, highlighting the power of genuine patient involvement, practical workforce training, international learning and new approaches to supporting frail older people and their carers.
I’ve just returned from the International Conference on Integrated Care 2026 (ICIC26) in Birmingham, UK, and I’m still buzzing. If you work in health and care, health services management or policy, or simply care about how we look after people with complex needs, here’s what stood out – and what I think we should be borrowing from the global stage.
Patients in the room – really in the room
The thing that impressed me the most? The visibility and active role of patients and people with lived experience.
Not as case studies. Not as token voices on a panel. As genuine participants, shaping discussions and co-leading sessions.
Back home, we've been learning together with patients for more than two decades. But the scale of patient involvement at ICIC26 is on another level. Big thanks to Roger Smith (in London, in clinical team meetings) and Mick Kunze for sharing their ideas. This is something I want to see replicated everywhere.
How do we actually do integrated care?
I had the pleasure of participating in a roundtable on the future of the integrated care workforce. The headline takeaway:
We have plenty of theory. What we need are practical tools and training that show people how to do this work in practice.
A few highlights worth following up on:
- Áine Carroll presented Ireland’s strategy – a clear blueprint other countries can adapt.
- The International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC) offers a strong training portfolio, including an on-site summer school. Contact two of the leaders: Edelweiss Aldasoro and Arturo Álvarez-Rosete.
- Ruben Van Zelm leads a very interesting master’s programme in the Netherlands.
- For Spanish-speaking professionals, we run different online courses with UHIBA and RedEMC.
I also had the honour of chairing one of my favourite sessions: “Making Integrated Care Work: Revealing Mechanisms and Methods.” If you want examples of practice-ready knowledge, dig into the Dutch TARGET Programme (presented by Ysanne de Graaf) and the GERONTE Project (presented by Lucia Ferrara).
Where the knowledge lives
If you want to keep up with the field, two peer-reviewed journals do the heavy lifting:
- International Journal of Integrated Care (IJIC)
- Journal of Integrated Care (JICA)
Lovely to meet Viktoria Stein and Axel Kaehne, who lead these efforts.
A shout-out to Latin America
A special mention to the IFIC Latin America (LatAm) Hub. Although I am a member of the board, I think it’s fair to say that its work is making a real difference in the region. They ran a brilliant parallel session in Spanish on day one of the conference.
In Birmingham, the tribute to Rocío Sáenz, one of the leaders who sadly passed away recently, was deeply moving. I’m sure she’d be proud of the Costa Rican team that represented her so well at ICIC26.
Introducing GERAS+
I was thrilled to present GERAS+, a five-year project that started life by winning the Silver Economy Contest organised by IDB Lab (thank you Erika Molina and team), with support from the Inter-American Development Bank (thank you Claudia Vázquez and team), and developed by Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires.
It’s a digital platform built around frail older people, their carers, and the primary care teams supporting them. It includes:
- Educational materials
- Self-management activities
- Computer-based tools to support clinical decision-making for the most common – and trickiest – problems in frail older people
GERAS+ launches in August. Follow me for updates!
A surprise – and a thank you
I also have to say: receiving an award at ICIC26 for our “Integrated Care Programme for Patients with Dementia and Behavioural Disorders in the Home Setting” caught me completely off guard. Thank you, ICIC, and thank you, Fiona Lyne!
What I learned from West of London NHS Trust
Special thanks to Anne Hendry and Christopher Hilton. I had a front-row seat to how teams at West of London NHS Trust work – and one thing stood out:
Leadership with a clear vision that completely trusts its skilled teams.
The result is distributed leadership and committed teams generating real value for and with patients. We saw the same spirit at the brilliant Washwood Heath Primary Care Centre, which we visited during the conference (thank you Robin Miller). And the official launch of IFIC England at the close of ICIC26 points to an even brighter future.
See you in Tallinn?
The best advice I can give you: join us at ICIC27 in Tallinn, Estonia, next year.
It’s a place to learn, to share, and, honestly, to make friends. See you there.
Gastón Perman
Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires
Professor of Health Services Management - UHIBA