Blog posts

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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Cost and effects of integrated care

By Miriam Galvin / July 7, 2020

Governments across high-income countries are challenged to contain the relentless increase in health expenditure, which is partly driven by ageing populations and an associated increase in the prevalence of chronic disease.

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IFIC Ireland Summer Update

By Miriam Galvin / June 8, 2020
Since our last newsletter in March, life has changed in many ways for all of us. We have all adjusted our work plans, family life, how we spend our free time and holiday plans for the foreseeable future. Many of the ordinary daily acts of meeting, working together and socialising are completely altered or simply… Read More

The 4th anniversary of the approval of the Framework on IPCHS by the World Health Assembly

By Miriam Galvin / May 19, 2020

Celebrating the 4th anniversary of the approval of the WHO Framework on integrated and people-centred health services: progress and opportunities ahead

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Respond, recover, reset, and then thrive! Building resilient communities during and beyond COVID 19

By Miriam Galvin / May 8, 2020

The second in IFIC’s “Care during and beyond the COVID-19 Crisis – Building integrated care as the cornerstone of our new reality” webinar series took place on 24 April. This webinar was organized in association with IFIC Australia and chaired by Professor Nick Goodwin, Chair of IFIC Australia and Director of the Central Coast Research Institute. The webinar focused on “Supporting Community Resilience in times of Public Health Crisis”

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Power in our collective: how we build the future as one system and ‘one team’

By Fiona Lyne / April 9, 2020

The first in IFIC’s “Care during and beyond the COVID-19 Crisis – Building integrated care as the cornerstone of our new reality” webinar series took place on Wednesday, 8th April and was attended by 250 delegates representing 40 countries.
In this webinar series we will be offering an opportunity for our network to hear about the integrated care approaches implemented and considerations being made around the world to address people’s continued care and support needs beyond the immediate public health issues and crisis management.

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The Orange Declaration

By Miriam Galvin / April 1, 2020

In October 2018 researchers and service providers met in Orange NSW to consider the challenges in addressing consistently poor mental health outcomes in rural and remote Australian communities. They concluded that rural mental health services are not working, despite increases in government funding.

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IFIC Ireland Spring Update

By Miriam Galvin / March 31, 2020
It has been a busy start to the new year for IFIC Ireland as we launched our new webinar series for 2020, signed a partnership agreement with SláinteCare and had numerous speaking engagements Please Note, in light of the current Covid-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions in place, we regretfully inform you that the National… Read More

Integrated Care Search: Paper on search filter development

By Miriam Galvin / March 23, 2020
Integrated Care Search: Paper on search filter development published in BMC Medical Research Methodology Integrated Care Search (ICS) is a validated search filter giving ‘one-click’ access to the integrated care research literature in the PubMed database. It was launched at the 18th International Conference on Integrated Care ICIC18 held in Utrecht in May 2018. ICS… Read More

The case for a more intimate relationship between research, policy and practice

By Miriam Galvin / March 3, 2020

A ship without a compass? The case for a more intimate relationship between research, policy and practice to enable the more successful adoption of integrated care

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What Latin Americas massive protests tell us about the future Integrated Care agenda

By Miriam Galvin / February 24, 2020

Galileo Pérez-Hernández, Board Member of IFIC and Nieves Ehrenberg, Senior Researcher discuss the value and importance of the Foundation’s work in Latin America and the efforts to develop a regional hub to support capacity building around integrated care across the region.

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SCIROCCO Exchange Webinar

By Miriam Galvin / February 7, 2020

The transformation of healthcare systems is highly complex and, as such, the health and social care authorities in charge of system redesign are seeking support to improve their capacity for integrated care.

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A Look Back at 2019

By Miriam Galvin / January 6, 2020

What a year we have had at the International Foundation for Integrated Care! We continue to grow at pace and our network extends to all corners of the world.

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International Conference on Integrated Home Care

By Miriam Galvin / November 18, 2019

On 19 September the Belarus Red Cross Society (BRC) in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus, and with the support of the Swiss Red Cross, hosted an international conference entitled “Integrated home-based care: modern approaches and key challenges”.

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ERPIC Update

By Miriam Galvin / November 1, 2019

Welcome to ERPIC!
To uphold our ethos of inclusivity of anyone early in a career, we are now officially the:
Emerging Researchers and Professionals in Integrated Care .
After our first formal year as the ERPIC Executive team (2018/19), we have all decided to stay on in order to complete our goals for the network. In order to balance our ERPIC commitments with our own research and professional responsibilities, we have reshuffled the team.

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IFIC Ireland Autumn Update

By Miriam Galvin / October 31, 2019

It’s been a busy time in IFIC Ireland this autumn with webinars, speaking engagements, our inaugural Accelerated Learning Program and we have some updates regarding our upcoming events. First, we are postponing the National Forum to May 2020 to allow the inclusion of a number of SláinteCare initiatives that are only now getting underway. All details are below and for anyone who has submitted an abstract, your paper will be considered for our alternative date.

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IFIC Scotland Autumn Update

By Miriam Galvin / October 30, 2019

IFIC Scotland, the Scottish hub for the International Foundation for Integrated Care, continues to expand its Scottish network of professionals, people with lived experience, academics, policy makers and organisations involved in implementing integrated care in Scotland.

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The 3rd TransForm conference, Vancouver Canada

By Miriam Galvin / September 19, 2019

At the end of September, Interim CEO Toni Dedeu and senior researchers Nieves Ehrenberg and Monica Sorensen will travel to Vancouver, Canada to the 3rd Transnational Forum for Integrated Community Care (TransForm) conference

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Thinking global while acting local

By Miriam Galvin / September 19, 2019

From a global perspective the Australia health system is considered to be high quality, accessible and innovative delivering good patient outcomes.

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A note from the Chair – Building New Opportunities for Integrated Care

By Miriam Galvin / September 16, 2019

I am delighted to be writing this blog as the new Chair of IFIC Australia and, in so doing, to pay tribute to our outgoing Chair – Peter McGeorge – for his commitment and enthusiasm over the past 2 years

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How to Take Integrated Care Forward in Australia

By Miriam Galvin / September 15, 2019

A core objective of IFIC Australia is to help support the effective implementation of integrated care in policy and practice. The IFIC Australia initiative reflects the growing focus at State and Federal level on person-centred integrated care as a means to promote better value in the way health and care services are delivered

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Validation Test

By Miriam Galvin / September 10, 2019

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Building Community Nests

By Miriam Galvin / September 9, 2019

We all know that personal development takes time. It is a lifelong experience that allows us to incorporate new skills and qualities so that we can better face current and future challenges.

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Value Based Health Care: Setting the scene for Australia

By Miriam Galvin / July 18, 2019

On June 4th 2019, IFIC met with the steering committee of the Transnational Forum on Integrated Community Care (TransForm) in Brussels.

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TransForm’s journey so far

By Miriam Galvin / July 11, 2019

On June 4th 2019, IFIC met with the steering committee of the Transnational Forum on Integrated Community Care (TransForm) in Brussels.

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Coordinating care to older people at home: what works and how can we improve care delivery?

By Miriam Galvin / May 30, 2019

On the 17th April 2019, Nick Goodwin hosted a seminar at the University of Newcastle’s Sydney Campus to examine the international evidence and experience in coordination of care to older people with complex needs in the home environment.

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VIGOUR shares its first lessons learned at ICIC19 in San Sebastian

By Miriam Galvin / May 22, 2019

ICIC19 in San Sebastian provided the first opportunity for VIGOUR partners to share their work with an external audience after the start of the project in January 2019.VIGOUR contributed to two important workshops on capacity and capability building to implement and scale-up integrated care programmes and solutions

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A final note from Peter McGeorge, Chairman of IFIC Australia

By Miriam Galvin / May 21, 2019

With regret this is my last newsletter as Chair of IFIC Australia, as I stepped down from the role at our last Partners meeting in April.

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Social work: a missing voice of integrated care?

By Miriam Galvin / May 21, 2019

Collaboration is at heart of integrated care. Responding to the differing needs, aspirations and contexts of individuals and their families is beyond the gift and expertise of a single profession.

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Spotlight on Learning from International Experiences in Funding and Financing Workshop

By Fiona Lyne / May 17, 2019

Here Nieves Ehrenberg, Senior Researcher at the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC) provides a summary of a session focusing on funding and financing at ICIC19.

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Spotlight on The OMIS Room: Experiences of End of Life Integrated Care

By Fiona Lyne / May 17, 2019

Here Nieves Ehrenberg, Senior Researcher at the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC) provides a summary of a session focusing on end of life care at ICIC19

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Global cross-pollination of ideas to solve local problems

By Fiona Lyne / May 17, 2019

Have you ever tried to cook something outside of the dish’s country of origin? It tastes different. No matter how thoroughly you read and follow a recipe. It still tastes different. The soil, the air, the water, in essence, the elements that affect the ingredients are different.

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IFIC Movement enters new phase of expansion

By Fiona Lyne / May 17, 2019

This growing following is testament to the continued interest in integrated care as one of the few truly promising routes to improving care and outcomes that is relevant for all people living in different contexts and settings.

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IFIC, two decades bringing about transformational change for people and their health and wellbeing

By Fiona Lyne / May 17, 2019
IFIC, two decades bringing about transformational change for people and their health and wellbeing. The 19th International Conference on Integrated Care (ICIC) bears the imprint of two decades of transformational change in health and social care provision. The evolution of care service delivery has gravitated from supply to demand. This is reflected in the evolution… Read More

Capacity building and technical support for implementing Integrated Care in Europe

By Fiona Lyne / May 15, 2019

The European Commission, Directorate-General Health and Food Safety, in collaboration with the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC), organised a workshop and a marketplace on “capacity building and technical support for implementing integrated care” in the context of the 19th International Conference on Integrated Care (ICIC19), 1-3 April 2019, in San Sebastian, Spain.

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Year of intense work leads to record number of attendees in San Sebastian

By Fiona Lyne / May 15, 2019

Seeing the San Sebastián Kursaal Congress Centre brimming with over 1,300 colleagues interested in integrated care, a record to date at ICIC conferences, was a great pleasure for everyone who has been involved in organising ICIC19 to a greater or less extent, particularly after a year of intense work.

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Canada make a growing contribution to the global movement for change

By Miriam Galvin / May 9, 2019

The ICIC 2019 conference in Donostia-San Sebastian was a wonderful opportunity for Canadians to learn who in Canada is working to better understand, improve and advance integrated care.

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Carole Ann Alloway, Caregiver talks about the importance of co-design

By Miriam Galvin / May 9, 2019

In February of 2018 I got an email from Jodeme Goldhar, Executive Lead – Strategy and Innovation at The Change Foundation asking if I would be interested in speaking with her at a keynote address of ICIC2018 in Utrecht, Holland

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Winner of Integrated Care Award, Jacobi Elliott on her ICIC experience

By Miriam Galvin / May 9, 2019

In April 2019, I had the privilege of attending my 6th International Conference on Integrated Care (ICIC), the annual conference hosted by the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC).

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