In this insight, Isabel Henderson, Alberta Health Services, reflects on lessons from ICIC26, highlighting why integrated care is now essential to easing pressure on hospitals and emergency services through prevention, community-based care, equity and support for family caregivers.
I am honoured to be part of a movement reshaping how care is delivered. At the International Conference on Integrated Care 2026, more than 1,000 participants, including over 250 from across Canada, made one thing clear: integrated care is no longer niche; it is becoming foundational to modern health systems.
The message was consistent – this is essential, not optional. Rising demand for inpatient beds and emergency services cannot be solved by adding capacity alone. Integrated care is the only sustainable path to ease that pressure and better meet people’s needs.
The conference themes guided the conversations, functioning not as abstract goals but as shifts already underway.
Improved outcomes through community-based care
The move away from hospital-centric models toward community-embedded care is accelerating. Programmes supporting older people, people with long-term conditions, and those facing social vulnerability bring services directly to where people live. Success hinges on trusted local partnerships and continuity across providers. Better outcomes emerge when care fits real lives, not system convenience.
Enhanced value based on prevention and technology
Technology is everywhere, but the focus is on practical, value-driven tools (think AI, remote monitoring, virtual care, data-sharing platforms) that enable prevention and early intervention. These tools strengthen relationships among people receiving care, family caregivers and providers. Value is redefined: not just cost reduction, but meaningful gains in quality of life and system sustainability.
Reduced inequalities with social and economic development
Equity is central, not peripheral. Health outcomes are inseparable from housing, income, and education. Leading organisations are co-designing with communities, not imposing solutions. Cross-sector collaboration (health, social care, community groups) is essential to reduce inequalities.
Strengthened workforce by growing capacity, skills and inclusivity
Workforce challenges are real, but solutions exist: team-based models, expanded scopes of practice, and flattening hierarchies. Growing capacity means investing in people. Inclusivity, addressing burnout, and valuing lived experience are no longer optional; they are the foundation of resilient systems.
Beyond these four themes, two additional cross‑cutting currents ran through the conference program:
Family caregivers as integral partners
Family caregivers (the “hidden workforce”) are not just supports to the system; they are part of the system. Sessions called for moving beyond token acknowledgement to tangible supports: education, respite, flexible workplace policies and direct inclusion in care planning. Integrated care cannot succeed without integrating family caregivers.
Tempering acute care demand as the north star
Presentations on community-based care, prevention, and caregiver support circled back to the same urgent payoff: reducing preventable inpatient and emergency department (ED) visits. Across multiple sessions, I learned that mature integrated models lower acute care use by 15–30 per cent for high-need populations – evidence presented as proven and replicable. With ageing populations and rising chronic disease, failing to integrate care means drowning in avoidable acute demand. It is no longer optional – it is the core strategy.
Final reflection
Integrated care is no longer theoretical. It is being implemented, tested, and refined across diverse settings. The slow, piecemeal pilot is over. Rising acute care volumes (waiting rooms spilling into corridors, ALC patients) are predictable results of fragmented systems. Integrated care is the only proven countermeasure, and its positive impact on tempering the growing need for acute care (in both inpatient settings and emergency departments) is now the non-negotiable driver.
For Canadian participants, the message carried both validation and urgency. Many provinces are moving in the right direction, yet the gap between pilot and system‑wide scale remains wide. Without sustained leadership, community infrastructure, and payment models that reward coordination, the acute care surge will outpace all of our efforts.
It’s exciting to see how integrated care is catching on. The question is no longer if; it is how fast. Every month of delay means more avoidable suffering, more overwhelmed EDs and more exhausted family caregivers. Now we must run with it.
Isabel Henderson is a health and care leader with more than 25 years of experience as a senior executive, educator, Accreditation Canada surveyor and consultant. A passionate advocate for integrated care, she currently serves as Executive Director, Special Projects at AHS, after 14 years as Senior Operating Officer of Canada’s renowned Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. Isabel has co-authored a provincial continuing care report for Alberta’s Minister of Health, shared her expertise on a Canadian health mission to Beijing, and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Alberta. Her leadership has earned multiple honours, including the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (2023).
Isabel Henderson
Special Projects
Alberta Health Services