Abstract
BackgroundEstablishing an information-sharing system between medical professionals and welfare/care professionals may help prevent heart failure (HF) exacerbations in community-dwelling older adults. Therefore, we aimed to identify the ICF categories necessary for care managers to develop care plans for older patients with HF.MethodsA questionnaire was administered to 695 care managers in Hiroshima, Japan, on ICF items necessary for care planning. We compared the care managers according to their specialties (medical qualifications and welfare or care qualifications). Furthermore, we created a co-occurrence network using text mining, regarding the elements necessary for collaboration between medical and care professionals.ResultsThere were 520 valid responses (74.8%). Forty-nine ICF items, including 18 for body functions, one for body structure, 21 for activities and participation, and nine for environmental factors, were classified as “necessary” for making care plans for older people with HF. Medical professionals more frequently answered “necessary” than care professionals regarding the 11 items for body functions and structure and three items for activities and participation (p < 0.05). Medical–welfare/care collaboration requires (1) information sharing with related organisations; (2) emergency response; (3) a system of cooperation between medical care and non-medical care; (4) consultation and support for individuals and families with life concerns, (5) management of nutrition, exercise, blood pressure and other factors, (6) guidelines for consultation and hospitalisation when physical conditions worsen.ConclusionsOur findings showed that 49 ICF categories were required by care managers for care planning, and there was a significant difference in perception between medical and welfare or care qualifications qualifications.
Highlights
Establishing an information-sharing system between medical professionals and welfare/care professionals may help prevent heart failure (HF) exacerbations in community-dwelling older adults
An expert panel consisting of multidisciplinary team members discussed HF-specific International Classification of Functioning (ICF) categories to be added to the ICF checklist
The percentage of respondents who answered “necessary” for the 10 body function categories, 1 body structure category, and 3 activity and participation categories were significantly higher in the medical qualification group than in the welfare or care group (Tables 2, 3 and 4: The bold items)
Summary
Establishing an information-sharing system between medical professionals and welfare/care professionals may help prevent heart failure (HF) exacerbations in community-dwelling older adults. Shiota et al BMC Geriatrics (2021) 21:704 has developed the Japanese national plan for promotion of measures against cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease in 2020 [4, 5]. The Japanese national plan includes the establishment of a comprehensive community care system that integrates health, medical and welfare services. Heart failure (HF) is one of the most common cardiovascular diseases, with repeated recurrences and hospital admissions reducing the quality of life of patients and their families, and increasing healthcare costs [6,7,8]. Social support and information sharing may prevent rehospitalisation for HF [13, 14], and establishing an information-sharing system between medical and welfare/care professionals in the community is an urgent issue
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