Evidence review - integrated health and social care
Report | October 2013
This review was commissioned by Skills for Care`s Workforce Innovation Programme to understand the characteristics of effective workforce practice in integrated health and social care services. The research had a particular focus on avoiding hospital admissions, improving reablement services, and speeding up and improving hospital discharge services and transfers between residential and nursing homes.
The evidence review aimed to address:
- current reported practices to support workforce intelligence, planning and development
- what works, and what does not work, in current practice to support workforce intelligence, planning and development
- key characteristics of effective practice in workforce intelligence, planning and development
- relevant international evidence
- gaps in the evidence base
The review found the evidence relating to integrated health and social care more generally, and workforce issues more specifically to be problematic. Much of the work identified was not primarily concerned with workforce issues and connections between workforce approaches and the impact and outcomes for service users were not always addressed.
The majority of studies were based on interviews and questionnaires for staff working within or managing integrated teams. There were also a significant number of case studies and articles drawing out learning from pilots. Most of the evidence was from England, with a small number from other UK countries, and Europe.