Global Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Conversations on Integrated Care: Perceptions Among Direct Care Professionals

Sara J Hills

Integrated care has become an important topic in health psychology, medicine, and other related fields since the endorsement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Integrated care (health care professionals working in teams) is expected to lower health costs, improve overall health and well-being, provide more preventive care opportunities, increase quality of care, increase ease of access to care, and decrease the stigma attached to some services such as those associated with mental health. Integrated care models and strategies vary by site and offer different levels of integration in every area of care management. The integration of practitioners from various training backgrounds and perspectives is difficult and practitioners often resist changing the ways that they conceptualize their roles and implement their services. The majority of current research of satisfaction with integration health care appears to seek and to explain the patient’s experiences with integrated care models. There seem to be fewer studies interested in the perceptions of health care practitioners. In the medical and health fields in particular, there is a need for qualitative research that explores the experiences of participants in-depth to support the volumes of existing quantitative data. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study is to explore direct care practitioners’ perceptions of and experiences with integrated care in Midwest University, pediatric diabetes and endocrinology clinic.

Health care reform in the US has introduced terms such as ‘the patient-centered medical home’ and ‘integrated care’ that are often unclear and unfamiliar to patients. This study explored patient experiences with the functional domains of integrated care.

Published Date: 2021-01-28;