Title The Outcomes of pilot projects of integrated home care in Lithuania from the informal carers' viewpoint /
Authors Danusevičienė, Lina ; Jurkuvienė, Ramunė ; Gajdosikienė, Indrė ; Butkevičienė, Rūta
DOI 10.5334/ijic.3349
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Is Part of International Journal of Integrated Care : 17th international conference on integrated care : Dublin, 08-10 May 2017 : conference abstracts / International Foundation of Integrated Care (IFIC).. Utrecht : Igitur publishing. 2017, vol. 17, no. 5, p. 1-2, no. A48.. ISSN 1568-4156
Keywords [eng] Home care services ; Delivery of health care, integrated ; Pilot projects
Abstract [eng] Before the first IHC services were implemented, formal care at home was not part of Lithuanian culture. Most professionals and ordinary citizens alike had no concept or language for this way of caring. Most carers were women, and a high proportion of them had serious medical and social problems that were being neglected in order to provide care to relatives with serious chronic conditions. Many of the carers‘ conditions were extremely distressing. To address this situation, Integrated home care pilot projects were begun in 21 Lithuanian municipalities in 2012. IHC mobile teams consisted of social workers, nurses, their assistants, and kinesiotherapists. The major aim of the teams was to suppport family members who had the entire responsibility to care for relatives with chronic conditions. The organizers and service providers constructed the pilot projects in a way that fit in the local context. Rural and urban areas varied in how access to clients and development of human resources were organized. The realities of everyday life and current events in the community were taken into account. The informal carers were actively involved in the IHC service provision. Aim: Given the major cultural innnovation that IHC constituted and the emphasis on the experience of the carers, the aim of the study was to analyze the implementation and outcomes of integrated home care pilot projects from the informal carers' viewpoint. Methods: In home interviews with 14 carers were conducted using both structured and open ended stimulus questions and topics. Twelve focused discussion groups were conducted with team members, and the content on their observations and perceptions of the carers experiences were also analyzed. Together, these data were classified, compared, and conceptualized in order to express the variety of experiences of these participants. Results: The informal carers described their situation before the project i[...].
Published Utrecht : Igitur publishing
Type Conference paper
Language English
Publication date 2017