Abstract
Introduction: Integrated care aims to improve access, quality and continuity of services for ageing populations and people experiencing chronic conditions. However, the health and social care workforce is ill equipped to address complex patient care needs due to working in silos. This presentation will describe the extent and nature of the literature from a scoping review on workforce development in integrated care to inform future research, policy and practice. The presentation will include recommendations to create the perfect integrated care workforce. A scoping review was conducted to map the key concepts and available evidence related to workforce development in integrated care.
Aims, Objectives, and Methods: The goal is to synthesize the research into education and training by mapping current knowledge derived from various study designs. A scoping review is particularly relevant in this field, as emerging evidence makes it challenging to undertake systematic reviews: and allow for a broader range of study types to be included. The method allows for knowledge strengths and gaps to be identified and set within policy and practice contexts.
Results and key findings: The results emphasise workforce planning is essential when implementing a system in integrated care and must be designed around patients and populations, not professions representing a shift away from silo-based analyses of workforce needs.
Key results included a list of themes and competencies for workforce training on integrated care and a list of identified training models.
Essential skills and competencies were identified. These include enhancing workforce understanding across the health and social care systems, developing a deeper relationship with patients and their families, patient-centeredness, health promotion, disease prevention and interprofessional teamwork.
The literature embraces workforce alignment of activities across health and social systems and settings and expands expertise in integrated care education to develop leaders and role models.
The results describe what the perfect integrated care workforce would look like. This includes focusing on health promotion, disease prevention and managing the people’s health and care rather that disease and cure. However, we need to collaborate in new ways with education providers from within our health and social care systems to drive this change.
Conclusion: Descriptions of education and training were aimed at qualified professionals, especially doctors and social workers. Limited studies discussed workforce competencies and education and training models but primarily addressed management and leadership. Education and training need to be a priority to achieve sustainable integrated care in the next generation.
Implications for applicability/ transferability and limitations
There is an urgent need to develop new academic programs, competencies and training models, and leadership to build a people-centred health workforce and a more integrated health and social care approach. Further research needs to focus on the most effective methods for implementing these competencies, including active involvement of people with lived experience of care.
Barraclough F, Smith-Merry J, Stein V, Pit S. Workforce Development in Integrated Care: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Integrated Care. 2021;21(4):23. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.6004