A holistic and person-centered approach to telecare: socio-health collaboration

Abstract

Introduction: Telecare Public Service of the Basque Government (betiON) is part of a comprehensive care model focused on the person, whose fundamental aspect is to address the social and health needs of people in a coordinated manner, both in preventive and in care aspect. Its connection with health care devices allows having information of systems which share data on health and social issues. This makes possible a characterization of the target population and the development of integrated health and social care provision models. This service is aimed at: - People over 75 who live alone - People over 65 who are in a situation of acknowledged dependency or in situation of vulnerability recognized by social services - People with intellectual, physical or sensory disability and recognized dependency at any degree - People who have a diagnosed mental illness and present a situation of recognized dependency or risk of social exclusion. The socio-health coordination has been turned into the adoption of various measures and it addresses objectives and actions for active aging, coordination of socio-health space, adequate health care for the elderly, promotion of autonomy and respect for personal wills, the new technologies for quality of life, welfare, promotion of volunteering, and personal and intergenerational relationships Aims/Objectives: - To encourage their users to stay in their usual environment - To guarantee a continuity of care - To reduce the need for face-to-face care - To promote care in the home - To orient patient/family in the decision of the health problem - To increase cooperation and coordination between health professionals and social partners - To facilitate communication between different health agents Results: In 2013, betiON (N=30,393) covered 6.99% of the population over 65 years of the Basque Country (3.31% in men and 9.94% in women). The 81% of users were women, the 77.57% were older than 80 years and the 65% lived alone. The users' overall satisfaction level was 4.5 out of 5. betiON handled 2,000 incoming and 800 outgoing calls daily. In 2013, the ratio of outgoing calls per person was 1.3. The 87.33% of answered calls were resolved through telephone by telecom operators, and the 12.67% required to be referred to other services. The 8.69% of calls had a sanitary character (5.79% of health advice and 2.90% previous appointment), with a 58% of call resolution. In 2014, betiON is part of the European project titled Universal Solutions in Telemedicine Deployment for European Health Care (united4Health) of Competitiveness and Innovation Programme ICT-PSP 2012 call, as a provider of telecare and telehealth services for the Basque Health Service, for heart failure care. Conclusions: The coordination of social and health services through the connection of information systems and telecare as a platform of services offer significant opportunities for innovation in the intervention relating to this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]