Blog

Hi all. The end of the year is approaching rapidly so it’s time to reflect on how IFICA has progressed over the course of past months and to take a peek at what’s planned for next year.

In the inspiring landscape of Orange, at the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health of the University of Newcastle a group of integrated care enthusiasts gathered on Monday, 29 October, to start a week-long Accelerated Learning Course on “Designing and Implementing Integrated Care”.

On the 9th November, IFIC Australia hosted a symposium at NSW Parliament House examining international evidence and experience in the organisation, funding and evaluation of integrated care. Led by Dr Apostolos Tsiachristas (Oxford University), Dr Liz Schroeder (Macquarie University), and Dr Viktoria Stein (IFIC) the symposium explored trends and approaches in the organisation of care services to improve population health and sought to put the debate in the context of the Australian reality.

The International Foundation for Integrated Care has developed global reach in the last few years and now boasts a network of approximately 19,000 individuals and organisations across more than 50 countries worldwide. This growth has been particularly strong in the Asia-Pacific region where IFIC has been undertaking conferences

The Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy (MUCHE) is based in Sydney, Australia. It is a University led strategic initiative to undertake innovative research on health, ageing and human services.

Our CEO, Dr.Nick Goodwin, reflects on the prospects for the development of alliances in Australia following the Transformers 3 workshop programme held in Byron Bay and Coffs Harbour between 5th and 8th November 2018 in partnership with the Centre for Healthcare Knowledge and Innovation.

Economic evaluation for integrated care is a peculiar task, perhaps not unlike tunnelling through spaghetti in a black hole, or aptly described by Tsiachristas et al as ‘a stairway suspended somewhere between heaven and hell’

A number of families living in our community experience many barriers to accessing health and social care. The problems that these families face are highly complex, often spanning over generations, and cannot be addressed by one agency alone.

Greetings! The past quarter has been a time of steady progress in the development of IFIC Australia (IFICA). Following on from what was a highly successful IFIC conference in Utrecht in May, a teleconference meeting of the Partners was held in June while, expressions of interest from new partners are being followed up, IFICA Webinars commenced and planning for an Accelerated Learning Program during the week of Oct 29th this year has been advanced.

Health services globally are under pressure from rising demand and associated fiscal pressures. It has been clear for some time that simply investing in our current hospital focused model of care is not the answer. To realise true value for investment and improve health outcomes we need to work differently.

As I write, the Australian media has been focussing in depth on drought in Australia for two weeks. It is as if those in metropolitan Australia have suddenly realised that rural farmers and communities are experiencing hardship and are at risk of psychological distress and mental illness.

Nine international faculty members, 23 participants from 16 countries, 16 World Cup matches and five days of glorious summer sunshine in Oxford. This was the recipe for the 2018 International Summer School on Integrated Care held at Wolfson College, Oxford, UK in June 2018.

IFIC Australia co-hosted an International Summer School in late March, aimed at supporting organisations to implement their integrated care strategies.

Developed in partnership with North Coast PHN and the Centre for Health Care Knowledge and Innovation, this event in Kingscliff was a sell-out, with a waiting list.

An increasing number of organisations are looking to affiliate and partner with us, joining the growing ranks of the SW Sydney LHD and PHN, Western Sydney PHN and LHD (see below), North Coast PHN and Centre for Health Knowledge and Innovation, Central Coast LHD, NSW Agency for Innovation (ACI), Children’s Health Queensland and the Mater Research Institute – University of Queensland Centre for Health System Reform and Integration.

Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) is proud to be a new member of the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC). Improving the way health and social policy service partners work together to improve the health and wellbeing of our population is a high priority in western Sydney

I’m writing this blog following a week’s visit to the NSW Central Coast by our friends and colleagues from IFIC Australia and IFIC. These times are strongly valued by our Local Health District and partners because they provide the opportunity to educate our teams, reflect on our integrated care journey to date and to plan the next steps

As a hospital librarian, I have a particular interest in approaches to searching for published literature on complex topics. And Integrated Care is the most complex topic I have tackled to date! In 2015 the Central Coast Local Health District (CCLHD) in NSW, Australia, where I work, became a demonstrator site for the NSW Ministry of Health Integrated Care strategy and I was asked to do searches of the biomedical literature to support a number of projects.