Blog posts

Integrated Care – Redesigning how we work in healthcare

By Niamh Daly Day / April 3, 2023
Integrated Care - Redesigning how we work in healthcare Dr Susan Kent, Associate Professor Dublin City University (DCU) IFIC Senior Associate IFIC is delighted to celebrate World Health Worker Week with people and organisations globally. Earlier this month the WHO announced the end of the global Covid-19 pandemic[1]. Health workforces and organisations could be forgiven… Read More

Integrated Care Perspective for Children with Cancer

By Niamh Daly Day / February 15, 2023
Integrated Care Perspective for Children with Cancer Norbert Graf, Saarland University Hospital Today, Wednesday 15th February is with International Childhood Cancer Day. Professor Dr. Norbert Graf, medical director of the Department for Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Saarland University Hospital, reminds us of the needs of children and families with cancer and the importance of… Read More

IFIC Scotland: Looking through the Rear Mirror

By Admin / December 21, 2022
As we reflect on 2022 our highlight was undoubtedly reconnecting with IFICs global community at ICIC22. Marie Curran supported IFICs communications team by recording voices of lived experience from across the globe to ground the opening plenary. Vicki Cloney and Ann Wardlaw were runners up in the Patient and Caregiver award for their paper about… Read More

Focusing on people, families, and communities in Latin America (IFIC LatAm)

By Admin / December 21, 2022
In Latin America, a participatory process has been developed, promoted by an enthusiastic group of people with diverse academic and professional backgrounds, with experience in integrated care and health systems, from various universities, research centers, foundations, associations, networks, as well as other people who get involved as independent professionals. IFIC LatAm makes a decisive contribution… Read More

IFIC Ireland – a year of change and growth

By Admin / December 21, 2022
After the pandemic held back our in-person activity, this year was a great opportunity to build on our remote activity and create new opportunities for integrated care in Ireland. All-Ireland Conference for Integrated Care in Dublin In March, we held the first annual All-Ireland Conference for Integrated Care in Dublin. This in-person event was a… Read More

A busy year for IFIC supporting a range of EU-funded projects

By Admin / December 21, 2022
PROCare4Life PROCare4Life over 2022 could analyse the results of pilot 2 and launch pilot 3, supported by a multilingual survey to expand the knowledge about its future users' preferences. After COVID19, we could finally meet in person in Madrid Consortium meeting. Specific multimedia training materials were created, to support the additional and refined functionalities that… Read More

Effectively Addressing Diabetes

By Niamh Daly Day / November 14, 2022
Effectively Addressing Diabetes Douglas Tynan PhD., Sidney Kimmel Medical School, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia PA Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood glucose. Hyperglycemia, also called raised blood… Read More

Educational Determinants of Health

By Niamh Daly Day / October 26, 2022
Educational Determinants of Health If you work in healthcare anywhere in the world, and I ask you about how your organization is retaining its clinical workforce, I’ll bet you’d respond with one of the following: an enormous sigh, a hearty laugh, or (god forbid) a quip about how “no one wants to work anymore.”  … Read More

A look back on Self Management Month 2022: Celebrating Change

By Niamh Daly Day / October 13, 2022
         A look back on Self Management Month 2022: Celebrating Change The ALLIANCE hosts a national self management awareness raising campaign each year. This year, it took the form of Self Management Month , running throughout September and focusing on Celebrating Change as its central theme. Throughout the month, we hosted a… Read More

World Mental Health Day 2022 – Please, No More Mental Health Service Silos!

By Niamh Daly Day / October 10, 2022
World Mental Health Day 2022 – Please, No More Mental Health Service Silos! David Burke, Senior Staff Specialist and Clinical Lead in Older People’s Mental Health at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney and Associate Professor, Discipline of Psychiatry, the University of Notre Dame There is no health without mental health (WHO, 2005); so, mental health for… Read More

Healing Hearts and Communities: the power of compassion

By Niamh Daly Day / October 7, 2022
Healing Hearts and Communities: the power of compassion Silvia Librada Flores, New Health Foundation This Sunday, 9th October is World Hospice and Palliative Care Day with the theme ‘Healing Hearts and Communities’[1]. It is a beautiful theme that refers to the concepts of compassion and Compassionate communities, which are now core pillars of palliative care… Read More

Building health and care system resilience and recovery

By Niamh Daly Day / September 22, 2022
Building health and care system resilience and recovery Niamh Lennox-Chhugani, Edelweiss Aldasoro and Alejandro Gil Salmeron In April 2020, one month after many countries across the world went into lockdown and health and care systems in many countries were dealing with the consequences of the pandemic, the International Foundation for Integrated Care launched a webinar… Read More

World Alzheimer´s Day: The spotlight is on post-diagnostic support

By Niamh Daly Day / September 21, 2022
World Alzheimer´s Day: The spotlight is on post-diagnostic support Nereide Curreri, MSc, PhD September 21st is World Alzheimer's day. In 1994 on September 21st the association Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) celebrated their 10th anniversary by inaugurating the first World Alzheimer's day. The day brings awareness: a spotlight on dementia, on the people living with dementia,… Read More

Recent OECD Publication: International comparisons of the quality and outcomes of integrated care: Findings of the OECD pilot on stroke and chronic heart failure

By Niamh Daly Day / August 4, 2022
Recent OECD Publication: International comparisons of the quality and outcomes of integrated care: Findings of the OECD pilot on stroke and chronic heart failure OECD Health Working Paper No. 142, May 2022, Eliana Barrenho, Philip Haywood, Candan Kendir and Niek Klazinga Across OECD countries, two in three people aged over 65 years live with at… Read More

Leading an innovative approach to prevention, community care and integration of care in Ireland – Online Workshop at ICIC22

By Niamh Daly Day / July 15, 2022
Leading an innovative approach to prevention, community care and integration of care in Ireland – Online Workshop at ICIC22 Sláintecare Department of Health & HSE in association with IFIC Ireland as part of 22nd International Conference on Integrated Care The Sláintecare Action Plan 2019 established the building blocks for a significant shift in the way… Read More

More than structures – the introduction of Regional Health Areas in Ireland

By Niamh Daly Day / April 19, 2022

More than structures – the introduction of Regional Health Areas in Ireland  Dr Niamh Lennox-Chhugani, Chief Executive, International Foundation for Integrated Care.    The Department of Health in Ireland published the long-awaited business case for the establishment of Regional Health Areas (RHAs) this week as Cabinet approved the case. The Chief Executive of the Health…

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Consequences of war for people: destroyed continuity of care now, lack of care provision later

By Niamh Daly Day / March 16, 2022

Consequences of war for people: destroyed continuity of care now, lack of care provision later Since 24th February 2022, we have all seen the images from Ukraine. At the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC), our thoughts are with the Ukrainian people and most particularly with people living with long-term care needs, their family, carers…

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Developing a new model of information systems and Electronic Health Records in Catalonia

By Niamh Daly Day / February 16, 2022

Developing a new model of information systems and Electronic Health Records in Catalonia Dr Josep Vidal-Alaball, Head of the Central Catalonia Primary Care Innovation and Research Unit, Institut Català de la Salut    Catalonia, located in the northeast Spain and with a population of 7.7 million habitants, has a health care system that provides publicly…

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Health and Social Care Reform in Scotland – What Next?

By Niamh Daly Day / January 27, 2022

Health and Social Care Reform in Scotland – What Next?   A New Year is a time for reflecting on achievements, identifying new goals and making resolutions for the year ahead. This year, our resolutions are all about the 3 Rs: Recovering health, mental wellbeing, social and economic activities for people and communities; Remobilisation of…

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Sing the Change: What a Wonderful World Connected and Distant

By Niamh Daly Day / November 2, 2021

Sing the Change: What A Wonderful World Connected and distant After eighteen months of restrictions and working from home with the daily commute from bedroom to workstation feeling the norm it was time to surface and try something new. For this I joined the Rock Choir and turned up to taster session not really knowing…

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Rounding up the #NACIC2021 Experience

By Niamh Daly Day / October 20, 2021

ROUNDING UP THE #NACIC2021 EXPERIENCE After hosting three informative and interactive sessions over a span of four days, our team at CBI Health was excited to be able to exchange ideas at #NACIC2021 with integrated care professionals from all around the world. Our main goal throughout the conference was to show how home care can…

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Reflections of a Patient – “One Of The Team”

By Niamh Daly Day / October 19, 2021

Reflections of a Patient –  “One Of The Team”   IFIC has really embraced person-centred care, and I believe this is the first conference I have been to that has such a high proportion of patients and caregivers. 300 of the 1000 attendees were patients or caregivers, which is fantastic. Congratulations to IFIC for making…

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Conference Plenary Summary: North American Conference on Integrated Care (NACIC)

By Niamh Daly Day / October 12, 2021
Conference Plenary Summary: North American Conference on Integrated Care (NACIC) From October 4-7, 2021, attendees came together virtually to share and learn about ‘Co-designing for health and well-being with individuals and communities’ at the first-ever North American international conference on integrated care (NACIC). Organized by the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC), the conference brought… Read More

Frailty Matters

By Miriam Galvin / February 25, 2021
IFIC Scotland’s end of year blog mentioned our ‘Frailty Matters’ project, funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing. I am pleased to share some more detail about this innovative collaboration between the ALLIANCE, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), IFIC Scotland and the Queens Nursing Institute Scotland (QNIS). Frailty… Read More

Advancing integrated care evaluation in shifting contexts

By Miriam Galvin / January 20, 2021

Despite many studies evaluating the effectiveness of integrated care, evidence remains inconsistent. Increasingly, commentary on the subject of integrated care evaluation is pointing out the mismatch between the ability to capture the impact of integrated care initiatives and programmes, and the selection of the most appropriate methodology to do this.

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Celebrating Learning and an Inspiring Community of Practice

By Miriam Galvin / January 11, 2021
On the 12th November ten students from the MSc Leading People-centred Integrated Care at the University of the West of Scotland joined me in a conversation with IFIC Scotland’s Reference Network.  The virtual session was organised to allow the students to share their experiences of participating in the Masters programme, now in its 3rd year.… Read More

IFIC is a consortium partner for 10 EU-funded projects in 2021

By Admin / January 4, 2021

Over each of the last 8 years, IFIC has been a consortium partner for many EU-funded project with most focusing on older people living with complex health and/ or social care needs. Many of our projects have examined how ICT can enable the delivery of care services and provide better outcomes and experiences for patients,…

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IFIC’s first Online Certificate in Integrated Care goes live in 2021

By Admin / January 4, 2021

The International Foundation for Integrated Care’s move into digital education came about from years of delivering successful Summer Schools and Accelerated Learning Programmes in Europe and Winter Schools in the Asia Pacific region. Covid19 restrictions meant that our normal timetable of Summer Schools and Accelerated Learning Programmes were to be put on hold for the…

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IFIC Ireland 2020 Year in Review

By Admin / December 23, 2020

In July, IFIC Ireland convened its first formal meeting of its Steering Group members. IFIC Ireland Steering Group will help take forward IFIC’s mission and aims across the region on a more sustained basis, and a commitment to advise, discuss and prioritize IFIC Ireland’s future activities in the region. The Steering Group will have a…

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IFIC Scotland 2020 Year in Review

By Admin / December 23, 2020

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….. that pretty much sums up 2020. The dreadful global impact of COVID-19 disrupted our workplan but IFIC Scotland still managed to achieve some key milestones. In March we successfully concluded our Transforming Together project with colleagues from São Paulo State Secretary of Health…

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IFIC Australia 2020 Year in Review

By Admin / December 23, 2020

The year 2020 will be forever defined by COVID-19 and its global impact. In Australia – through a mixture of good fortune, a favourable geography, and aggressive policy – the impact has thankfully been orders of magnitude less than most other countries in the world. In terms of the health and care system a long-term…

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IFIC Canada 2020 Year in Review

By Admin / December 23, 2020

IFIC Communications team in conversation with Jodeme Goldhar, Co-Director of IFIC Canada and Treasurer of the Foundation looks back on 2020 and what we have to look forward to for IFIC Canada in 2021. You played a key role in developing the Foundation’s report “Realising the true Value of Integrated Care” – what did your…

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VIDEO: Integrated people-centred health services (IPCHS) in Ireland: lessons learnt

By Miriam Galvin / December 1, 2020

The following presentation of Prof. Áine Carroll, IFIC Ireland co-director and IFIC Board member, describes current lessons learnt in the design and delivering of integrated people-centred health services in Ireland.

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Review of the Health Care Home Model – a look inside a leading New Zealand example of integrated care

By Miriam Galvin / October 19, 2020

The Health Care Home (HCH) mode was, first implemented in New Zealand in 2011. It was inspired by the Seattle-based Group Health model and adapted for the publicly funded and general practice gatekeeper role in New Zealand. Capital and Coast District Health Board commissioned IFIC to undertake an evaluation of the CCDHB region’s implementation of the Health Care Home model over the July-August 2020 period.

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Value-based care: why it matters so much now

By Miriam Galvin / October 8, 2020

The twin challenges of last summer’s bushfires, swiftly followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, have exposed critical bottlenecks and vulnerabilities in the Australian health system

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Continuity and coordination of care at the heart of integrated people-centred health services (IPCHS)

By Miriam Galvin / September 28, 2020
There are many descriptions of integrated care. I particularly relate to one framed by National Voices: ‘’My care is planned with people who work together to understand me and my carer(s), put me in control, coordinate and deliver services to achieve my best outcomes.”  It speaks of a collaborative approach to achieve what really matters to… Read More

Deafness and Dementia

By Miriam Galvin / September 28, 2020
Deafness and Dementia a review by Anne Hendry Communication matters. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, communication has been of critical importance at all levels, from policy to public health messaging and in practice. Now more than ever we must provide clear information and advice and listen carefully to what really matters to people. With the introduction… Read More

Dr. Edelweiss Aldasoro discusses health inequalities in light of Covid-19

By Miriam Galvin / August 10, 2020

Can we function as one system, identify with the shared values and vision, and believe that everybody can be a partner in the care of each other when many societies structurally impoverish, marginalise, deprive, neglect or abandon some of their communities? The pandemic has highlighted that some communities and groups are systematically neglected and unprotected.

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Is integrated mental health care hard to achieve?

By Miriam Galvin / August 4, 2020

First, what is integrated mental health care- it is a mental health care system that should encompass clear and seamless care pathways that match the intensity and type of care with the severity and complexity of the illness that people experience over time. For most people living with mental illness in Australia these care pathways are often difficult to find and often unaffordable.
Improving mental health care services has been a focus of the Bupa Health Foundation since its beginnings some 15 years ago.

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Realising the Value of Integrated Care in Australia: Beyond COVID19

By Miriam Galvin / July 27, 2020

Integrated care systems and communities provide greater resilience in adapting and coping with such urgent and complex problems. The COVID 19 pandemic may prove to be a catalyst in rethinking how health and care systems work in ways that better protect the vulnerable and are better prepared to cope with emerging systemic shocks.

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