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It is suggested that a common understanding of integrated care between multi‐professional staff is vital to prevent barriers to unification and quality of care. This paper examines qualitative data from PROCARE, a recently completed European project on integrated care for older people, to put forward an interpretation of what integrated care means to staff. Through thematic analysis, four main clusters were identified. The paper suggests that, while the analysis revealed a common and inter‐related European interpretation that was somewhat idealised and moralistic, this was countered by challenges to its implementation that were inseparable from the rhetoric. The paper suggests that a collective, morally strong understanding is unable to prevent barriers to integrated care, and that tensions between services remain a prominent impediment.

This paper assesses the recommendations and proposals contained in Transforming Your Care, the recent review of health and social care in Northern Ireland, in the context of the existing integrated structures. It is designed to promote a better understanding of the implications of the proposed reconfiguration of health and social care.

This paper reviews a number of published documents encompassing an independent review and subsequent plans and strategies. It also draws upon a case study of a Rapid Access Clinic undertaken by the authors as part of a wider research project.

The paper concludes that the planned changes question the ability of an integrated structure operating across primary, secondary and social care. It notes that there are real concerns about the capacity of the social care workforce to deliver services. It is suggested that the proposal for Integrated Care Partnerships can be seen as a reflection of the need for a more localised approach to delivery.

The findings are derived from a small‐scale study and as such may make generalisation difficult. There is a clear need for a more robust evidence‐based approach to the evaluation of structural integration in health and social care and a process for monitoring of this change process.

The article is a reminder of the unique example of structural integration within the UK. As such it could have important lessons for England, Scotland and Wales which are moving in a similar direction.

This paper provides a European overview of alternative approaches to integrated care for older people, drawing from a wider European project entitled PROCARE. It discusses the structural complexities that create the challenges in integrated care, compares and contrasts approaches to integrated care through a structure and process framework, and considers the place of person‐centred seamless care in European health and social care models.

Integrated care has emerged as a vital approach to address the growing complexities of healthcare systems worldwide, particularly in managing the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, aging populations and socioeconomic disparities. Integrated care generally involves the alignment of health and social services to provide patient-centered, coordinated and efficient care, ensuring continuity of care, optimizing resource allocation and improving patient outcomes during crises. Despite these recognized benefits, significant variability exists in how integration is conceptualized and implemented globally. This review aims to explore the diverse definitions, types and implementations of integrated care, comparing international health models and their impacts on patient and system-level outcomes.

A comprehensive literature review was conducted using PUBMED, MEDLINE, Google Scholar and Science Direct. Eligible studies included original research and reviews without time or regional restrictions. Search terms included “integrated care,” “integrated health and social care” and “integration”. Manual screening of references supplemented data collection. Studies were included based on relevance to the research question, focusing on the definitions, types and national policies regarding integrated care.

Integrated care models were categorized into vertical, horizontal, functional, clinical and service integration, each with distinct benefits and applications. Integrated care is defined by various authors as collaboration of various pillars of health and social care systems either at administrative, professional or infrastructural levels to obtain optimum health and economic outcomes. Different types of integration have been adopted worldwide depending upon the level of supply chain as well as level of healthcare collaborating with volunteers. Different countries adopted one or more type of integrated care models with some of evidence favoring vertical integration regarding patient outcome. The cost of integrated care in terms of distribution of resources and financial consumption and output may be same or more or less than conventional care model.

Integrated care models enhance patient outcomes, resource efficiency and system-level collaboration. However, barriers such as financial disparities, infrastructural limitations and organizational fragmentation persist. Despite promising examples of integrated care, the evidence on cost benefits remains inconclusive. Recommendations include aligning health and social care budgets, promoting patient-centered care, enhancing inter-professional collaboration and implementing shared electronic health records. Further research is needed to establish cost-effectiveness and refine integrated care policies for better health outcomes and system sustainability.

This is the first review to correlate and compare the national health models of various countries in terms of types of integration of health and social care and to bring out patient and system focused health and financial benefits out of it. Moreover, it gathers almost all the available data on the research question in one review with emphasis on latest approach.

A synthesis of integrated care models classified by their aims and central characteristics does not yet exist. We present a collection of five “archetypes” of integrated care, defined by their aims, to facilitate model comparison and dialogue.

We used a purposive literature search and expert consultation strategy to generate five archetypes. Data were extracted from included articles to describe the characteristics and defining features of integrated care models.

A total of 25 examples of integrated care models (41 papers) were included to generate five archetypes of integrated care. The five archetypes defined include: (1) whole population models, (2) life stage models, (3) disease-focused models, (4) identity group-based models and (5) equity-focused models.

The five presented archetypes offer a conceptual framework for academics, health system decision makers and patients, families, and communities seeking to develop, adapt, investigate or evaluate models of integrated care.

Two cross-cutting themes were identified, including (1) minimal reporting of patient, caregiver and community engagement efforts in integrated care development, implementation and evaluation, and (2) the nuanced emphasis and implementation of electronic data sharing methods across archetypes, and the need for further definition of the role of these data sharing methods.

To examine the evolution of health care integration strategies and associated conceptualization and practice through a review and synthesis of over 25 years of international academic research and literature.

A search of the health sciences literature was conducted using PubMed and EMBASE. A total of 114 articles were identified for inclusion and thematically analyzed using a strategy content model for systems-level integration.

Six major, inter-related shifts in integration strategies were identified: (1) from a focus on horizontal integration to an emphasis on vertical integration; (2) from acute care and institution-centered models of integration to a broader focus on community-based health and social services; (3) from economic arguments for integration to an emphasis on improving quality of care and creating value; (4) from evaluations of integration using an organizational perspective to an emerging interest in patient-centered measures; (5) from a focus on modifying organizational and environmental structures to an emphasis on changing ways of working and influencing underlying cultural attitudes and norms; and (6) from integration for all patients within defined regions to a strategic focus on integrating care for specific populations. We propose that underlying many of these shifts is a growing recognition of the value of understanding health care delivery and integration as processes situated in Complex-Adaptive Systems (CAS).

This review builds a descriptive framework against which to assess, compare, and track integration strategies over time.

The objective of this paper is to develop a redesigned commissioning process for social care services that fosters integrated care, encourages collaboration and balances professional expertise with client engagement.

This study employs a two-pronged approach: a case study of a municipality’s use of subsidy tables and a literature scoping review on integrated care research.

The paper introduces a new framework for the study of the new “subsidy tables.” A well-defined and extensive consultation process involving both social care providers (suppliers), the Service Triad, and client representation adds to the existing research on supplier consultation, and on how to define the outcomes for clients via client engagement.

While aspects are clearly relevant to the Netherlands, the design of the commissioning process of social care has international relevance as well: finding definitions, formulating outcomes and incentives, designing a more collaborative instead of competitive process, stakeholder engagement and consultation.

Several Dutch municipalities started using the “subsidy tables” method for commissioning integrated social care. This paper offers clear improvements that benefit the commissioners, the social care providers and their clients.

Improving the commissioning process of integrated social care will lead to better fitting care for people who need social care.

This paper is one of the first to do a thorough analysis of the “subsidy tables” method for commissioning integrated social care.

The purpose of this paper is to document the influence of policy transfer on integrated care development, its global occurrence and shifts towards integrated care. It highlights the influence of supranational forces, and the roles and relevance of policy transfer and policy translation in the development of integrated care.

This paper presents the findings of an international review of the policy transfer of integrated care, and the relevance of policy translation in integrated care development.

The global occurrence in integrated care, as evinced in this paper, can be seen in the global shift towards integrated care in various countries. However, studies exploring the actual mechanism of policy transfer and policy translation in relation to integrated care across countries are limited. The study of integrated care through the lens of policy transfer is important, as it for example, explores the structural elements, including environmental and cognitive obstacles in the policy transfer process. Policy translation offers a social constructivist approach to explore the travel of ideas, and considers the multiple spatial and scalar contexts in which integrated care policy is implemented.

This paper aims to advance policy transfer and policy translation as complementary frameworks to explain integrated care development. Second, it seeks to make novel and useful contributions to the debate about the development of integrated care, and to the wider arguments on policy transfer and policy translation and integrated care in other parts of the world.

In many countries, health care reforms are being made with the purpose of stimulating actors to make economically sound decisions. Recent attempts in The Netherlands encompass the development and introduction of integrated health care arrangements. Since these arrangements are directly tailored to care demand, it is generally expected that integrated health care will enhance efficiency. This paper analyses whether a shift towards integrated health care actually represents a Pareto‐optimal change. An analysis of the consequences shows that care demanders, providers and informal care givers, to some extent and under certain conditions, can be expected to benefit from the introduction of integrated health care. Under long‐term considerations, the introduction of integrated care may be categorised as a potential Pareto‐improvement.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a case definition of integrated health and social services initiatives that serve older adults, and will provide characteristics to aid in the identification of such initiatives. The case definition is intended to ease the identification of integrated health and social care initiatives.

A limited search was undertaken of both scientific and gray literature that documented and/or examined integrated health and social services initiatives. In addition, literature on well-documented and generally accepted integrated healthcare and social services models that reflect collaborations from healthcare and social services organizations that support older adults was also used to develop the case definition.

The case definition is as follows: healthcare organizations from across the continuum of care working together with social services organizations, so that services are complementary and coordinated in a seamless and unified system, with care continuity for the patient/client in order to achieve desired health outcomes within a holistic perspective; the initiatives comprise at least one healthcare organization and one social care organization; and these initiatives possess 18 characteristics, grouped under 9 themes: patient care approach; program goals; measurement; service and care quality; accountability and responsibility; information sharing; culture; leadership; and staff and professional interaction.

A limitation of this study is that the characteristics are based on a limited literature search. The quality of some of the literature both gray and published was not definitive: information on how they undertook the literature search was not provided; exclusion and inclusion criteria were not included; and there was insufficient detail on the design of the studies included. Furthermore, the literature reviews are based on integrated initiatives that target both seniors and non-senior’s based services. The cross-section of initiatives studied is also different in scale and type, and these differences were not explored.

The case definition is a useful tool in aiding to further the understanding of integrated health and social care initiatives. The number of definitions that exist for integrated health and social care initiatives can make it confusing to clearly understand this field and topic. The characteristics identified can assist in providing greater clarity and understanding on health and social care integration.

This study provides greater coherence in the literature on health and social care integration. It aids in better framing the phenomenon of healthcare and social services integration, thereby enhancing understanding. Finally, the study provides a very useful and concrete list of identifying characteristics, to aid in identifying integrated health and social care initiatives that serve older adults.