Readiness for Integrated Care of Older People: A Cross-Sectional Study in Mexico

To evaluate the readiness of the Mexican healthcare system to implement the integrated care for older people (ICOPE) approach into an existing healthcare model.

We conducted a cross-sectional study with data from 2473 healthcare workers analyzed using the model for understanding success in quality (MUSIQ) framework to gather data from healthcare professionals. Their perceptions regarding the readiness for ICOPE were assessed across five dimensions: team, microsystem, infrastructure, organization, and external environment.

Only 717 (29%) of the participants believed ICOPE could be successfully implemented in Mexico without any modifications. A total of 1261 (51%) participants rated the readiness of ICOPE with some barriers. The main barriers were reallocating resources and the external environment.

Mexico's healthcare system faces barriers to innovation that could hinder the successful integration of the ICOPE approach. A systematic identification of these barriers provides an opportunity to suggest adaptations and refinements to increase the probability of success. Using the contextual factors identified as facilitators and the proposal of interventions such as the ICOPE app could improve the chances of success.

The participants of this study evaluated ICOPE as ready to implement, with some contextual barriers. The readiness evaluation supports the stakeholders' and policymakers' decisions in implementing and monitoring the program in a natural setting. Evaluating the readiness of the intervention increases the possibility of aligning the innovation with contextual factors, increasing the chances of its successful adoption and implementation.