This volume is an invaluable resource for those seeking comparative information on
the policies and practices for the provision of integrated health and social care
for older people across nine European countries. It results from the first phase of
the PROCARE research project funded under the EU Fifth Framework Programme and prefaces
a second phase currently being completed.
Nine chapters providing the detail for the specific countries, each written by a local
research team and supplemented by vignettes of good practice examples, are preceded
by two overview chapters. The introductory chapter by Kai Leichsenring seeks to address
core issues—different understandings of integrated care, different strategies for
its achievement, and the impact of the varying national contexts. This discussion
has value well beyond the specific context of provision for older people, rehearsing
the variety of definitions and bravely attempting a characterisation of the participating
countries according to eight key concepts, ranging from the whole system approach
being promoted within the UK to the emphasis on person-centred practice in the Netherlands
and Denmark and on what is termed transmural care in Finland, integration across residential
and domiciliary services. Together with the exploration of different components of
integration—care management, strategies for intermediate care, needs assessment and
joint planning, user choice, integration of professional cultures, care-friendly communities,
support for informal (family) care, quality management—this distillation from the
specifics of different national strategies and from the detail of almost 50 pilot
or mainstream projects begins to address the elements which may be seen as fundamental
to the development of a theory of integrated care.
This is the goal for the second overview chapter, by Andy Alaszewski, Jennie Billings
and Kirstie Coxon. In practical terms they address four key areas: an identification
of the need for and the barriers to the provision of integrated care for older people
in Europe; a discussion of the alternative definitions of integrated care which highlights
the importance of a person-centred approach; an exploration of the alternative strategies
for overcoming the barriers to integrated care; and a critical examination of alternative
approaches to the evaluation of integrated care. This chapter is perhaps best regarded
as ‘work in progress’: it outlines the building blocks with which those seeking to
devise a theory of integrated working for older people are juggling. It highlights
the particular challenges associated with the management of ill health in older people
in a context where ageism may be prevalent, it underlines the complex organisational
and financial environments within which integration is sought, it explores integration
within the framework of the structure, process and outcome model developed by Donabedian,
and it suggests key markers, for example social inclusion, against which the progress
towards integrated care might be evaluated. The specification of outcome measures
through which the impact of integrated working can be assessed is essential; without
such evidence the argument for integrated working remains one of assertion rather
than certainty. Six somewhat embryonic approaches to such assessment of integration
are sketched.
The remaining chapters provide, country by country, a wealth of detail on legal, structural
and financial frameworks, on contrasting policy emphasis and on practice initiatives—and
also on emerging commonalities. The Integrierte Gesundheits-und Sozialsprengel (Integrated
Health and Social Care Districts) of Austria, the Danish Skaevinge project offering
24 hour integrated health and social care, the Laatuvanttu discharge project in Finland,
the St-Martin d'Hères Coordination Gérontologique in France and the KAPI in Greece
all provide fascinating detail of models for integration. But all the national chapters
offer a concise and accessible portrait. On a personal note, writing from Scotland,
I would like to have seen more acknowledgment within the UK chapter of the policy
divergence post devolution, particularly stark in this arena. Indeed this chapter
might more accurately have been titled England, thereby removing a number of inaccuracies
generated by extrapolating from England to the broader UK.
There would have been scope within this study for further systematic comparison and
classification across the different nations, perhaps one might say for further ‘integration’
of the data. A collaboration across nine sites is, however, no mean achievement and
the editors should be commended. The provision of health and social care for older
people, ‘one of the most prominent shortcomings in European health and welfare systems’
(p. 10), presents one of the key opportunities—and challenges—for the integrated working
agenda. If the second phase of this project, detailed case studies of model ways of
working, can proceed to the identification of a robust and sustainable strategy for
service delivery it will be a major advance.