IFIC 9 Pillars of Integrated Care

Determinants of population health in context

IFIC-9-Pillars-Health-in-context

Integrating care across the continuum of prevention and early intervention, self-care, chronic care, social care, acute care, long-term care, and end-of-life care, requires a deep understanding of the wider determinants influencing health, wellbeing, and access to quality care.

These determinants include:

  • access to good quality housing,
  • food security,
  • sense of belonging, and
  • secure employment.

For integrated care to work, all actors in the care system are committed to address these determinants to reduce inequalities in health, wellbeing, and care opportunities.

For people and communities

People and communities have access to an adequate start in life, including education that maximises their opportunities, fair employment, secure housing and healthy communities supported by well-resourced public health, prevention and early intervention. Access to equitable health care is assured for the whole population, no matter their socioeconomic status or living environment, including rural and remote areas, from prevention to end-of-life care, ensuring comprehensive support throughout their lifetime.

For care providers

Care providers include prevention of ill-health explicitly in their provision and interventions and work closely with public health professionals, local government / municipal officers, citizens and community partners to identify population health needs and co-create care to address these. When providing care, providers deploy personalised strategies to integrate care for people and communities.  They have the competencies and resources to effectively deliver and adapt care services that meet the needs of the different people and communities.

For system-level decision-makers

System-level decision-makers understand the wider determinants of health that shape the needs of the population. They build collaborative relationships across departments at national, regional and local level and draw up and agree policies accordingly that create the condition to address the wider determinants and the identified needs of the population. This means articulating a case for change that shifts from how services are currently resourced, to providing the resources the local population needs. Systems adapt to meet the evolving needs of different community members through equitable and inclusive policies and resources.