Evaluating the design of the Integrated Care for Older People: a theory of change approach.

Introduction: Given the progressive aging of the population, there is an urgent need at the health system level to implement effective models to care for older people (OP). Healthy aging is imperative to reach the Sustainable Development Goals. The World Health Organization (WHO) developed the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) strategy to address this challenge. Implementing ICOPE requires its adaption to a specific context. We propose a pathway for such adaptation through an evaluation of the design of ICOPE; thus, we aim to describe the Theory of Change (ToC) of ICOPE and evaluate it for its implementation in Mexico City. Methods: Based on the WHO and published literature documentation, we drafted an initial ToC for ICOPE. Then, we validated the ToC with experts in ICOPE, after which we evaluated and refined it by discussing the causal pathway, intervention required to activate it, rationale, and assumptions in consecutive workshops with 91 stakeholders and healthcare workers, using the nominal group technique to reach a consensus. Results: The resulting ToC has the potential to contribute to healthy aging by three expected impacts: (1) prevention, reversal, or delaying of the decline of intrinsic capacity (IC) in OP; (2) improvement of the quality of life of OP; and (3) increase of disability-free life expectancy. The ICOPE causal pathway had ten preconditions, including the availability of resources, identifying at-risk individuals, available treatments, and evaluating results. Discussion: We adapted ICOPE to a specific implementation context by evaluating its ToC in a participatory process that allows us to identify challenges and address them, at least in terms of the guidelines to operate the strategy. As ICOPE is an approach for a primary healthcare system, its adoption in a community healthcare program is promising and feasible. Evaluation as a tool could contribute to the design of effective interventions. The evaluation of the design of ICOPE for its implementation contributes to the strength of its potential to improve care for OP. This design for implementing ICOPE has the potential to be applied to similar contexts, for example, in other lower-middle-income countries.

Readiness for Integrated Care of Older People: A Cross-Sectional Study in Mexico.

AIM: To evaluate the readiness of the Mexican healthcare system to implement the integrated care for older people (ICOPE) approach into an existing healthcare model. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study with data from 2473 healthcare workers analyzed using the model for understanding success in quality (MUSIQ) framework to gather data from healthcare professionals. Their perceptions regarding the readiness for ICOPE were assessed across five dimensions: team, microsystem, infrastructure, organization, and external environment. RESULTS: Only 717 (29%) of the participants believed ICOPE could be successfully implemented in Mexico without any modifications. A total of 1261 (51%) participants rated the readiness of ICOPE with some barriers. The main barriers were reallocating resources and the external environment. OBSERVATION: Mexico's healthcare system faces barriers to innovation that could hinder the successful integration of the ICOPE approach. A systematic identification of these barriers provides an opportunity to suggest adaptations and refinements to increase the probability of success. Using the contextual factors identified as facilitators and the proposal of interventions such as the ICOPE app could improve the chances of success. CONCLUSION: The participants of this study evaluated ICOPE as ready to implement, with some contextual barriers. The readiness evaluation supports the stakeholders' and policymakers' decisions in implementing and monitoring the program in a natural setting. Evaluating the readiness of the intervention increases the possibility of aligning the innovation with contextual factors, increasing the chances of its successful adoption and implementation.

COVID-19 and long-term care facilities in Mexico: a debt that cannot be postponed.

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the most affected population group has been that of older people living in long-term care facilities (LTCFs), which has accumulated between 30 and 60 % of total number of deaths in the world. In Mexico, outbreaks have been reported in LTCFs of at least eight states. Various factors make this population group and LTCFs susceptible to COVID-1 outbreaks, mainly due to coexistence in common spaces, shared bedrooms and permanent physical contact with the personnel who work there, coupled with a lack of protocols and standards of care of mandatory observance, as well as personnel training limitations. There is evidence of the need to formally develop a National Care System that provides support to those in need of care and their families, and that includes LTCFs. In view of the challenges due to the lack of information and competencies in infection prevention and control at LTCFs, a group of experts, in collaboration with different public institutions, joined efforts with the purpose to update the guidelines in order to allow LTCFs face the pandemic and to contribute to the generation of said National Care System.

Ante la pandemia de COVID-19, el grupo más afectado ha sido el de las personas mayores que viven en instituciones de cuidados a largo plazo (ICLP), el cual ha acumulado entre 30 y 60 % de los fallecimientos en el mundo. En México se han reportado brotes en residencias de por lo menos ocho entidades federativas. Diversos factores hacen susceptibles a este grupo y a las ICLP: la convivencia en lugares comunes, dormitorios compartidos y el contacto físico con el personal que ahí labora, aunado a la falta de protocolos y estándares de cuidados de observancia obligatoria, así como a la escasa capacitación del personal. Se evidencia la necesidad de desarrollar un Sistema Nacional de Cuidados que brinde apoyo a las personas dependientes de cuidados y sus familias y que incluya a las ICLP. Derivado de los retos por la carencia de información y competencias en prevención y control de infecciones en las ICLP, un conjunto de expertos, en colaboración con instituciones públicas, integramos un grupo con el objetivo de actualizar las guías que permitan a las ICLP hacer frente a la pandemia y que contribuyan a la generación de ese Sistema Nacional de Cuidados.

COVID-19 e instituciones de cuidados a largo plazo en México: una deuda impostergable / COVID-19 and long-term care facilities in Mexico: a debt that cannot be postponed

Resumen Ante la pandemia de COVID-19, el grupo más afectado ha sido el de las personas mayores que viven en instituciones de cuidados a largo plazo (ICLP), el cual ha acumulado entre 30 y 60 % de los fallecimientos en el mundo. En México se han reportado brotes en residencias de por lo menos ocho entidades federativas. Diversos factores hacen susceptibles a este grupo y a las ICLP: la convivencia en lugares comunes, dormitorios compartidos y el contacto físico con el personal que ahí labora, aunados a la falta de protocolos y estándares de cuidados de observancia obligatoria, así como a la escasa capacitación del personal. Se evidencia la necesidad de desarrollar un Sistema Nacional de Cuidados que brinde apoyo a las personas con dependencia de cuidados y sus familias y que incluya a las ICLP. Derivado de los retos por la carencia de información y competencias en prevención y control de infecciones en las ICLP, un conjunto de expertos, en colaboración con instituciones públicas, integramos un grupo con el objetivo de actualizar las guías que permitan a las ICLP hacer frente a la pandemia y que contribuyan a la generación de ese Sistema Nacional de Cuidados.

Abstract Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the most affected population group has been that of older people living in long-term care facilities (LTCFs), which has accumulated between 30 and 60 % of total number of deaths in the world. In Mexico, outbreaks have been reported in LTCFs of at least eight states. Various factors make this population group and LTCFs susceptible to COVID-1 outbreaks, mainly due to coexistence in common spaces, shared bedrooms and permanent physical contact with the personnel who work there, coupled with a lack of protocols and standards of care of mandatory observance, as well as personnel training limitations. There is evidence of the need to formally develop a National Care System that provides support to those in need of care and their families, and that includes LTCFs. In view of the challenges due to the lack of information and competencies in infection prevention and control at LTCFs, a group of experts, in collaboration with different public institutions, joined efforts with the purpose to update the guidelines in order to allow LTCFs face the pandemic and to contribute to the generation of said National Care System.

[Risk factors associated with upper gastrointestinal bleeding and with mortality]. / Factores de riesgo asociados a hemorragia del tubo digestivo alto y su mortalidad.

OBJECTIVE: to determine the associated risk factors with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) and mortality in subjects with peptic ulcer. METHODS: a total of 345 subjects with peptic ulcer, < 60 years of age, were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Subjects were allocated into one of two groups in accordance with the presence of UGIB. A logistic regression model, adjusted by age and sex, was used to compute the relationship between the risk factors and both UGIB and mortality. RESULTS: smoking (OR = 2.6, CI 95 % = 1.2-8.7), alcohol consumption (OR = 4.8, CI 95 % = 1.4-10.5), and previous history of UGIB (OR = 1.8, CI 95 % = 1.1-9.7) were strongly and independently associated with UGIB; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR = 1.9, CI 95 % = 1.2-11.4), and high blood pressure (OR = 1.4, CI 95 % = 1.1- 7.5) were associated with mortality in UGIB. CONCLUSIONS: the associated risk factors with UGIB in patients with peptic ulcer were: age lower than 60 years; smoking; history of UGIB; and alcohol consumption. The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and high blood pressure were associated with mortality in UGIB.