ADVOCACY
The majority of home care services are provided to seniors living with chronic disease, life-limited illness or disability that require support. It is widely recognized that integrated health systems are the most effective delivery model for individuals with multiple health problems and complex conditions, resulting in better quality and safety. Home and community-based services are essential parts of effective integrated approaches to care.
Integrated care refers to a process or strategy for improving the coordination of health services to better meet the needs of patients and providers. There is no single definition or best practice model for integration. It can mean different things in different contexts, and it can take many forms. What matters most is clinical and service-level integration that focuses on how care can be better provided around the needs of individuals, especially where this care is being provided by multiple professionals and organizations.
Home and community-based care is uniquely positioned within the health care system as an integrative bridge between different locations of care—hospitals, long-term care facilities, community health centres and primary health care offices. Integrated care strategies that emphasize home and community-based care are realizing important successes in optimizing care delivery, improving quality of life for patients and their caregivers, and achieving value for the health care system.
The Canadian Home Care Association (CHCA), the national association for home care stakeholders in Canada, and CBI Health Group, a leader in rehabilitation and integrated community health care services, are pleased to announce a new collaborative partnership.
Only 19%
of primary health care staff in Canada frequently make home visits compared to 84% in the United Kingdom.
The 2015 Commonwealth Fund International Survey
54% of Canadians
believe encouraging health professionals to work in teams with other types of health care providers will improve access to care.
Health Care in Canada Survey 2018
1 in 12
hospital patients had their stay extended because home and community-care services or supports were not ready on discharge.
CIHI, Home Care Indicators
29%
of primary care practices routinely communicate with a case manager or home care provider about a patient’s needs when a patient is receiving home care services.
The 2015 Commonwealth Fund International Survey
To gain a better understanding of the policy and program direction that jurisdictions are taking across Canada to facilitate integrated care between home care and primary health care, the Canadian Home Care Association (CHCA) hosted a series of discussion panels during our 2018 Home Care Summits in Prince Edward Island and British Columbia. All panel presentations were live-streamed with video content available on-demand. This paper summarizes the key discussions from each panel presentation. Download the report
These practical tools support the development of policies and services for integrated home and community-based care. The Policy Lens supports policy and system planning and the Services Lens targets operational and frontline considerations. Download the tools
A synthesis of the current body of research on the integration of health systems in the context of home care including key elements of integration and models of integrated care involving home care and various parts of the health system including: primary health care, acute care, chronic care, palliative care and pediatrics. Download the report
This framework describes the key strategies, actions and questions for each of the six Harmonized Home Care Principles that should be addressed in the development of principle-based home care standards. Download the report
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