Category - Blog

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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”

On 7th April 2020 the University of the Americas, Chile organised a Webinar on ‘Coronavirus: Lessons of a pandemic’ chaired by Prof Osvaldo Artaza in which fifteen panellists, experts in public health from the Americas, contributed to a discussion on the lessons learnt so far in the region.

How can we plan for a post pandemic future that better supports the poor and the underserved? Hard questions for any society, even tougher for low and middle income economies with high levels of social inequality and where the policy discourse is rarely followed by change at pace.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

The Children, Young People and Families Special Interest Group (CYF SIG) was launched at the IFIC International Conference on Integrated Care (ICIC18) in Utrecht in May 2018 as a response to the need to bring together health, education and social care researchers and professionals who are interested in aspects of integrated health and social care as it applies to children, young people and their families

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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