The Handy Approach - Quick Integrated Person Centred Support Preparation.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Health Services Research
• Patient-Centred Care

Background:

• Integrated care models, such as Virtual Wards, aim to improve outcomes for patients with multiple long-term conditions by reducing system complexity.
• Traditional biomedical assessments often overlook personal aspirations, necessitating new skills for collaborative goal setting.
• The East London NHS Foundation Trust piloted integrated care to enhance person-centred goal documentation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To improve the documentation of person-centred goals of care in 100% of assessments within integrated care settings.
• To test and implement change ideas that enhance the documentation and coproduction of care goals.
• To embed a collaborative framework for care planning that prioritizes patient aspirations.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study involving Interdisciplinary Teams (IDTs) in Virtual Wards from June 2014 to January 2016.
• Implementation of change ideas including Enhanced Clinical Supervision (ECS), Flash Teaching (FT), and the Handy Approach (HA) structured assessment framework.
• Focus on 'Team Primacy' to foster mutual regard and embed behaviour change within IDTs.

Main Results:

• Documentation of personal aspirations improved progressively with interventions: ECS (0%), FT (10%), ECS/FT/HA (42%).
• The combination of 'Team Primacy' with ECS, FT, and HA achieved 100% documentation of personal aspirations.
• The Handy Approach, used within a highly functional team, facilitated consistent documentation of patient goals.

Conclusions:

• The Handy Approach, integrated within a supportive team structure, is effective in achieving comprehensive documentation of person-centred care goals.
• This approach supports collaborative care planning by ensuring patient aspirations are central to the assessment process.
• Optimizing documentation of personal aspirations is crucial for effective person-centred integrated care delivery.