health and social care

Making our health and care systems fit for an ageing population

Paper designed as a high-level resource and reference guide for local service leaders who want to improve care for older people. Within each component of care it describes the goal that the system should aim for and then presents key evidence about what can work, selected examples of local good practice, pointers to major reviews and guidelines, and advice about where to start.

Preventing loneliness and social isolation in older people (IRISS Insights, No 25)

Prevention has been identified as a key aspect of Scottish public service reform. In response to the findings of the Christie Commission (2011), the Scottish Government has called for a 'decisive shift towards prevention'.

This Insight looks specifically at the prevention of isolation and loneliness amongst older people, with a particular focus on what practitioners in the fields of health and social care should bear in mind when working to tackle this important and growing issue.

Delivering integrated care and support (IRISS Insights, No 24)

Document that is based on a report prepared for ADSW at the time of the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Bill (Petch, 2013) and seeks to distill key evidence to assist health and social care partnerships in Scotland in their delivery of integrated care and support. It works from the premise that structural change by itself does not deliver the improved outcomes sought for service users and communities, unless equal or greater attention is paid to a range of other key factors.

Key points are as follows:

Providing integrated care for older people with complex needs: lessons from seven international case studies

Report that synthesises evidence from seven case study programmes, each from a different country, that are successfully delivering integrated health and social care for older people with complex needs. The aim is to identify lessons for policy-makers and service providers to help them improve how care is designed and co-ordinated.

Integrated care value case toolkit

The LGA has partnered with NHS England, The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), The Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS), Monitor, NHS Confederation and the Department of Health (DH) to deliver a programme of work carried out by Integrating Care and PPL.

The toolkit enables Health and Wellbeing Boards and local partners to understand the evidence and impact of different integrated care models on service users, as well as the associated impact on activity and cost to different parts of the health and care system.

Delivering integrated care and support

Document that is the second review of research evidence completed for ADSW by Professor Alison Petch from IRISS on the factors that underpin best health and social care integrated practice.

The original document, An evidence base for the delivery of adult services, published in 2011, presented the evidence for considering factors beyond those of structural change when planning to improve integrated outcomes for individuals. This latest report further adds to the knowledge base by focusing on the key dimensions for effective implementation of change.

Personal stories

A series of written stories that illustrate how the divide between health and social care affects people's lives. They have been included in the Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care call for evidence.