Integrated healthcare and care through distance-spanning solutions

It is not uncommon for people receiving care for the elderly to also be in regular in contact with various healthcare providers. This involves services in home care, home healthcare,primary care and specialist care in hospitals. For citizens, it is of no importance who is responsible for what. The main thing is that both healthcare and social care are coordinated and that they work for the individuals.

– “It doesn’t always work from an individual perspective. Being able to coordinate social services, primary care and specialist care is a major organisational challenge. There are several authorities and often also different legal issues that craeate challanges to coordinate the services” says project manager Bengt Andersson at the Nordic Welfare Centre.

For all those in need of intervention, it would mean a lot if it were possible to increase cooperation between the various welfare organisations. It is in this respect that the project “Integrated healthcare and care with distance-spanning technologies” has tremendous relevance. It is about many practical steps that can be resolved with the support of welfare technology and remote solutions

The project Integrated healthcare and care with distance-spanning technologies (iVOPD) focuses on the importance of precisely cooperation between welfare institutions at regional and local levels. One of the project’s undertakings is to map out and present a number of so-called model areas for integrated healthcare and care with distance-spanning technologies. Five to eight areas from all Nordic countries will be presented in a publication in autumn 2022.

Finland’s regional reform interesting

Collaboration between regions and municipalities around welfare technology and remote solutions is already under way, in both structured form and project form. In the Nordic region, Finland is first up with a major regional form being implemented in 2023.

– “What’s happening in Finland in 2022 and will start to come into force in 2023 is very interesting. Virtually all the healthcare and care for which municipalities are currently responsible will be part of the new welfare regions,” says Bengt Andersson, continuing:

– “We’re certainly looking forward to receiving good and interesting descriptions from all Nordic countries, there’s a lot to learn from those working in a structured way with collaboration and cooperation across organisational boundaries in order to raise the implementation rate of welfare technology and remote solutions in healthcare and care.”

The new project focuses to a greater extent on the importance of cooperation between the different operations and organisations in welfare to achieve integrated healthcare and care for the citizens of the Nordic countries with the support of welfare technology and remote solutions.

– “Cooperating can be difficult! Trust and networking is necessary to be able to cooperate and put the focus on the needs of citizens.”

In the project Healthcare and care through distance-spanning solutions (VOPD), the Nordic Welfare Centre collaborated with Centre for Rural Medicine in the Swedish region of Västerbotten. iVOPD is a continuation of that work and Integrated healthcare and care through distance-spanning solutions. The project is run within the framework of specific activities being carried out in the action plan for the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Vision 2030. iVOPD is cross-sectoral and encompasses, among other things, the labour market in the welfare sector and the green transition.