Realising demand-driven care: participation of patients and family carers in integrated care

Abstract

Introduction: In the ongoing scientific debate concerning the future of health care models, two trends can be discerned. On the one hand, integrated care is considered as the solution to current issues, such as the fragmentation of care, the lack of coordination and the evolution from acute to chronic care. On the other hand, participation of patients and family carers in health care decisions on various levels (micro, meso, macro) is considered as an important value. In other words, integration and participation seem to be two guiding principles when organising care. But it is unclear which connections are made between both evolving conceptual and empirical research strands. Purpose and objectives: The aim of this contribution is to examine whether the participation of patients and family carers is studied in the literature on integrated care, on which level this involvement is realised and what kind of methods and strategies are described. Method: We conducted a systematic review of empirical studies focusing on the relationship between integrated care and participation of patients with chronic care needs. For describing the different ways in which patients and family carers can be involved a conceptual framework of participation will be applied. Results and conclusions: Integrated care models aim to realise demand-driven care. Our findings give an overview of the current evidence on the methods and the effects of patients’ and family carers’ involvement in integrated care. Lessons Learned: Integrated care places patients at the centre of the care process. More attention must be paid in research and practice to the question how and on what levels patients and family carers can play an active role in integrated care initiatives. This research is part of the multidisciplinary research project CORTEXS that studies integrated care initiatives (1). 15th International Conference on Integrated Care, Edinburgh, UK, March 25-27, 2015 1 International Journal of Integrated Care – Volume 15, 27 May – URN:NBN:NL:UI:10-1-117077– http://www.ijic.org/ Keywords integrated care; demand-driven care; participation; literature review