Abstract
Background: Health and social care systems worldwide are like complex puzzles, with many moving pieces — policies, priorities, and jurisdictions — that often don’t align. This interactive and creative challenge invites participants to crack the code for integrating health and social care, exploring innovative ways to harmonise policies, align services, and break down barriers for seamless care delivery.
Audience: This workshop is for health and social care policymakers, service providers, system designers, researchers, and advocates from across the globe. If you're involved in the integration of services across sectors, managing multi-departmental policies, or working to harmonise systems that don’t quite fit together, this session is for you. Whether you're from a small local authority or a large national body, this workshop will offer actionable strategies for overcoming common integration challenges.
Approach: This workshop is designed to be an exciting and interactive global integration hackathon where participants tackle real-world challenges together, brainstorm creative solutions, and learn from one another. The session will combine problem-solving, group activities, and friendly competition to engage participants in the complexities of integrating health and social care systems.
15 min - Introduction: Meet the Challenge!
The session begins with a high-energy introduction to the global integration challenge, outlining the key barriers such as policy fragmentation, siloed care, and jurisdictional boundaries. Experts will share their experiences and highlight the importance of harmonising policies to break down silos and enhance service delivery.
20 min - The Global Puzzle: Break It Down
Participants are divided into teams and presented with different integration "puzzles." These puzzles represent key challenges, including policy alignment, interdepartmental cooperation, data sharing, and service coordination. Teams will work with case studies, regulatory frameworks, and strategic objectives to break down the puzzles and devise solutions for policy harmonisation.
30 min - The Great Integration Race: Solution Time!
In this phase, teams will work quickly to design practical, innovative solutions that address the challenges from the previous puzzles. Participants will use the resources provided to reimagine service delivery, overcoming fragmentation and improving integration at both the policy and delivery levels.
15 min - The Pitch: Show Us Your Solution!
Each team will pitch their solution in three minutes, outlining the problem, their approach, and key elements of their solution. The group will provide feedback, vote for the most innovative solutions, and discuss practical implementation strategies.
5 min - Closing Thoughts: Unlocking Global Integration
The workshop concludes with a discussion of key takeaways and how participants can apply the creative solutions to their own contexts. Participants will leave with actionable strategies and a toolkit for global integration.
Intended Outcomes: Participants will gain a deeper understanding of integration challenges, collaborate on innovative solutions, and leave with actionable strategies for improving health and social care integration in their own systems.