Supporting Quality Integrated Care for Adolescent Depression in Primary Care: A Learning System Approach.

Background: Quality integrated care, which involves primary care and mental health clinicians working together, can help identify and treat adolescent depression early. We explored systemic barriers to quality integrated care at the provincial level in Ontario, Canada using a learning system approach. Methods: Two Ontario Health Teams (OHTs), regional networks designed to support integrated care, completed the Practice Integration Profile (PIP) and participated in focus groups. Results: The OHTs had a median PIP score of 69 out of 100. Among the PIP domains, the lowest median score was case identification (50), and the highest one was workspace (100). The focus groups generated 180 statements mapped to the PIP domains. Workflow had the highest number of coded statements (59, 32.8%). Discussion: While the primary care practices included mental health clinicians on-site, the findings highlighted systemic barriers with adhering to the integrated care pathway for adolescent depression. These include limited access to mental health expertise for assessment and diagnosis, long wait times for treatment, and shortages of clinicians trained in evidence-based behavioral therapies. These challenges contributed to the reliance on antidepressants as the first line of treatment due to their accessibility rather than evidence-based guidelines. Conclusion: Primary care practices, within regional networks such as OHTs, can form learning systems to continuously identify the strategies needed to support quality integrated care for adolescent depression based on real-world data.

Country learning on maintaining quality essential health services during COVID-19 in Timor-Leste: a qualitative analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This case study examines the enabling factors, strengths, challenges and lessons learnt from Timor-Leste (TLS) as it sought to maintain quality essential health services (EHS) during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN: A qualitative case study triangulated information from 22 documents, 44 key informant interviews and 6 focus group discussions. The framework method was used to thematically examine the factors impacting quality EHS in TLS. SETTING: National, municipal, facility levels in Baucau, Dili and Ermera municipalities in TLS. RESULTS: Based on the TLS National Health Statistics Reports, a reduction in outpatient, emergency department and primary care service delivery visits was observed in 2020 when compared with 2019. However, in contrast, maternal child health services simultaneously improved in the areas of skilled birth attendants, prenatal coverage and vitamin A distribution, for example. From the thematic analysis, five themes emerged as contributing to or impeding the maintenance of quality EHS including (1) high-level strategy for maintaining quality EHS, (2) measurement for quality and factors affecting service utilisation, (3) challenges in implementation of quality activities across the three levels of the health system, (4) the impact of quality improvement leadership in health facilities during COVID-19 and (5) learning systems for maintaining quality EHS now and for the future. CONCLUSION: The maintenance of quality EHS is critical to mitigate adverse health effects from the COVID-19 pandemic. When quality health services are delivered prior to and maintained during public health emergencies, they build trust within the health system and promote healthcare-seeking behaviour. Planning for quality as part of emergency preparedness can facilitate a high standard of care by ensuring health services continue to provide a safe environment, reduce harm, improve clinical care and engage patients, facilities and communities.

Achieving Quality Integrated Care for Adolescent Depression: A Scoping Review.

INTRODUCTION: While primary care is often the first point of contact for adolescents with depression, more than half of depressed adolescents are either untreated or undertreated. A scoping review had been completed to summarize approaches for achieving quality integrated care in primary care focused on adolescent depression. METHODS: The scoping review followed the methodological framework for scoping studies from Arksey and O'Malley. Articles were grouped into themes and mapped to 6 quality domains for integrated care from the practice integration profile survey and 3 levels of stakeholders based on WHO's definition for health systems (patient/family, primary care team, and national/sub-national health system). RESULTS: A total of 868 records were screened resulting in 22 articles at the patient/family-level (5/22), the primary care team-level (18/22), and the national/sub-national health system-level (16/22). The results highlighted multilevel approaches to support the delivery of quality integrated care for adolescent depression in primary care: (1) population-focused using patient registries, routine screening based on standardized algorithms, and patient-centered strategies, (2) team-driven where primary care clinicians collaborate with mental health clinicians as part of a primary care team, (3) evidence-based delivery of mental health services across the integrated care pathway from screening to follow-up visits, and (4) measurement-guided by leveraging the electronic health record infrastructure to learn from patient outcomes. CONCLUSION: More research is needed on how to provide quality integrated care for adolescent depression, specifically on patient engagement and retention, grounded in the frontline experiences of patients, families, and clinicians and supported by national and/or sub-national guidelines. A learning system could help integrate mental health services in primary care in a way that is consistent across the national and/or sub-national health system.

Gift of time: learning together to embed a palliative approach to care in long-term care.

BACKGROUND: Embedding a Palliative Approach to Care (EPAC) is a model that helps shift the culture in long-term care (LTC) so that residents who could benefit from palliative care are identified early. Healthcare Excellence Canada supported the implementation of EPAC in seven teams from across Canada between August 2018 and September 2019. OBJECTIVE: To identify effective strategies for supporting the early identification of palliative care needs to improve the quality of life of residents in LTC. INTERVENTION: Training methods on the EPAC model included a combination of face-to-face education (national and regional workshops), online learning (webinars and access to an online platform) and expert coaching. Each team adapted EPAC based on their organisational context and jurisdictional requirements for advance care planning. MEASURES: Teams tracked their progress by collecting monthly data on the number of residents who died, date of their most recent goals of care (GOCs) conversation, location of death and number of emergency department (ED) transfers in the last 3 months of life. Teams also shared their implementation strategies including successes, barriers and lessons. RESULTS: Implementation of EPAC required leadership support and dedicated time for changing how palliative care is perceived in LTC. Based on 409 resident deaths, 89% (365) had documented GOC conversations; 78% (318) had no transfers to the ED within the last 3 months of life; and 81% (333) died at home. A monthly review of the results showed that teams were having earlier GOC conversations with residents. Teams also reported improvements in the quality of care provided to residents and their families. CONCLUSION: EPAC was successfully adapted and adopted to the organisational contexts of homes participating in the collaborative.

Aiming for quality: a global compass for national learning systems.

INTRODUCTION: Transforming a health system into a learning one is increasingly recognized as necessary to support the implementation of a national strategic direction on quality with a focus on frontline experience. The approach to a learning system that bridges the gap between practice and policy requires active exploration. METHODS: This scoping review adapted the methodological framework for scoping studies from Arksey and O'Malley. The central research question focused on common themes for learning to improve the quality of health services at all levels of the national health system, from government policy to point-of-care delivery. RESULTS: A total of 3507 records were screened, resulting in 101 articles on strategic learning across the health system: health professional level (19%), health organizational level (15%), subnational/national level (26%), multiple levels (35%), and global level (6%). Thirty-five of these articles focused on learning systems at multiple levels of the health system. A national learning system requires attention at the organizational, subnational, and national levels guided by the needs of patients, families, and the community. The compass of the national learning system is centred on four cross-cutting themes across the health system: alignment of priorities, systemwide collaboration, transparency and accountability, and knowledge sharing of real-world evidence generated at the point of care. CONCLUSION: This paper proposes an approach for building a national learning system to improve the quality of health services. Future research is needed to validate the application of these guiding principles and make improvements based on the findings.

Development and Validation of Quality Criteria for Providing Patient- and Family-centered Injury Care.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the content validity of quality criteria for providing patient- and family-centered injury care. BACKGROUND: Quality criteria have been developed for clinical injury care, but not patient- and family-centered injury care. METHODS: Using a modified Research AND Development Corporation (RAND)/University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Appropriateness Methodology, a panel of 16 patients, family members, injury and quality of care experts serially rated and revised criteria for patient- and family-centered injury care identified from patient and family focus groups. The criteria were then sent to 384 verified trauma centers in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand for evaluation. RESULTS: A total of 46 criteria were rated and revised by the panel over 4 rounds of review producing 14 criteria related to clinical care (n = 4; transitions of care, pain management, patient safety, provider competence), communication (n = 3; information for patients/families; communication of discharge plans to patients/families, communication between hospital and community providers), holistic care (n = 4; patient hygiene, kindness and respect, family access to patient, social and spiritual support) and end-of-life care (n = 3; decision making, end-of-life care, family follow-up). Medical directors, managers, or coordinators representing 254 trauma centers (66% response rate) rated 12 criteria to be important (95% of responses) for patient- and family-centered injury care. Fewer centers rated family access to the patient (80%) and family follow-up after patient death (65%) to be important criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Fourteen-candidate quality criteria for patient- and family-centered injury care were developed and shown to have content validity. These may be used to guide quality improvement practices.