When IFIC Australia was founded in November 2015, one of its core objectives was to provide a platform through which to develop and exchange ideas to advance science and knowledge in Australia and on an international stage. Since that time there has been a significant growth and interest in the work of IFIC Australia, and a related increase in the dissemination of research and innovation through IFIC’s range of activities.
Nowhere has this growth been more evidence than in the number of submissions and subsequent publications to IFIC’s on-line periodical, the International Journal of Integrated Care (www.ijic.org). Of the 162,108 unique users of IJIC, some 13,286 (8.3%) come from Australia – a significant growth from recent years and now third only to the UK and USA. Perhaps most impressively, Australia ranked first in number of submissions by country with 174/688 submissions of all types of paper in 2018, compared to the Netherlands (in second place) from where 115/688 submissions were received.
IJIC has also published 7 original articles from Australian first-authored manuscripts in 2018 (the full list is provided at the end of this post). These papers demonstrate a variety of methods, primarily case study research and evidence syntheses, with a focus on new models of integrated care across a variety of settings and to different client groups – though especially to children and youth, and for people with mental health issues.
Australian research and innovation also feature strongly at the 19th International Conference on Integrated Care being held in San Sebastian, Basque Country, Spain on 1-3 April 2019. Of the 665 poster and oral papers that were successfully chosen for presentation at ICIC19, drawn from 57 different countries internationally, some 79 papers (14.5%) originate from Australia. This number of accepted papers is second only to Spain (the host country).
During the ICIC19 conference a special meeting will be held on Wednesday afternoon from 15:30 in the main auditorium to invite colleagues from across Australia and the Asia-Pacific to discuss how IFIC’s activities can best be taken forward across the Region. We look forward to seeing you there.
Nick Goodwin is the CEO of the International Foundation for Integrated Care and Co-Director of IFIC Australia
Original papers in the International Journal of Integrated Care in 2018
Translating the Elements of Health Governance for Integrated Care from Theory to Practice: A Case Study Approach Caroline Nicholson et al. https://www.ijic.org/articles/10.5334/ijic.3106/
Piloting the Integration of Non-Dispensing Pharmacists in the Australian General Practice Setting: A Process Evaluation Helen Benson et al.
https://www.ijic.org/articles/10.5334/ijic.3293/
Coordinating Mental and Physical Health Care in Rural Australia: An Integrated Model for Primary Care Settings Scott Fitzpatrick et al.
https://www.ijic.org/articles/10.5334/ijic.3943/
The Nature of Patient- and Family-Centred Care for Young Adults Living with Chronic Disease and their Family Members: A Systematic Review David Allen
https://www.ijic.org/articles/10.5334/ijic.3110/
“Dealing with the Hospital has Become too Difficult for Us to Do Alone” – Developing an Integrated Care Program for Children with Medical Complexity (CMC) Lisa Altman et al.
https://www.ijic.org/articles/10.5334/ijic.3953/
Finding the Integrated Care Evidence Base in PubMed and Beyond: A Bibliometric Study of the Challenges Suzanne Lewis et al.
https://www.ijic.org/articles/10.5334/ijic.3975/
The Reality of Uncertainty in Mental Health Care Settings Seeking Professional Integration: A Mixed-Methods Approach Chiara Pomare et al.
https://www.ijic.org/articles/10.5334/ijic.4168/