Integrated care for older populations and its implementation facilitators and barriers: A rapid scoping review

Inform health system improvements by summarizing components of integrated care in older populations. Identify key implementation barriers and facilitators.

A scoping review was undertaken for evidence from MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, organizational websites and internet searches. Eligible publications included reviews, reports, individual studies and policy documents published from 2005 to February 2017.

Initial eligible documents were reviews or reports concerning integrated care approaches in older/frail populations. Other documents were later sourced to identify and contextualize implementation issues.

Study findings and implementation barriers and facilitators were charted and thematically synthesized.

Thematic synthesis using 30 publications identified 8 important components for integrated care in elderly and frail populations: (i) care continuity/transitions; (ii) enabling policies/governance; (iii) shared values/goals; (iv) person-centred care; (v) multi-/inter-disciplinary services; (vi) effective communication; (vii) case management; (viii) needs assessments for care and discharge planning. Intervention outcomes and implementation issues (barriers or facilitators) tend to depend heavily on the context and programme objectives. Implementation issues in four main areas were observed: (i) Macro-level contextual factors; (ii) Miso-level system organization (funding, leadership, service structure and culture); (iii) Miso-level intervention organization (characteristics, resources and credibility) and (iv) Micro-level factors (shared values, engagement and communication).

Improving integration in care requires many components. However, local barriers and facilitators need to be considered. Changes are expected to occur slowly and are more likely to be successful where elements of integrated care are well incorporated into local settings.