Interprofessional and interorganisational collaboration in multidisciplinary, team-based and coordinated primary care interventions for integrated, homebased care of elderly.

Research problem and specific questionsA transfer of care closer to patients and improved integration is challenging as it entails coordination of services in patients’ homes and collaboration across professional and organisational borders.

Our aim is to contribute with empirical and theoretical knowledge about the implementation, organisation, content and impact of multidisciplinary, team-based and coordinated primary care interventions for elderly in Sweden.

Data and methodOur empirical case is a novel healthcare intervention, called “mobile community care team” (MCCT), currently being implemented across nine locations in Region Skåne.

The MCCTs should provide homebased, person-centred care to individuals who do not need hospital care and who wish to stay in their home, and coordinate care with others.We use a mixed methods longitudinal approach to study all MCCTs from different perspectives, paying careful attention to contextual factors in the local setting of each team.

To explore the implementation process, content of the intervention and implications for staff, we use thematic analysis of data from open-end survey questions, interviews and observations with relevant managers and healthcare staff, complemented with descriptive statistical analysis of responses to closed-end survey questions and administrative data on volumes of care.

To investigate implications for patients and impact on resource utilization, we rely on panel data covering individuals’ characteristics, care use and disease history in a difference-in-differences analysis.

Societal relevance and utilisationThe project will be carried out in close collaboration with managers in Region Skåne, which facilitates dissemination of results that directly benefits relevant actors.

Broadly, our project addresses many of the challenges with coordinated primary care interventions for elderly in Sweden and will contribute with new knowledge in several areas.

In addition to publications in scientific journals, we will draw on well-established networks and communicate findings through national and regional seminars and Swedish reports that reach beyond the academia.

Plan for project realisationWe have extensive experience from previous, policy relevant projects with similar methodological approaches in the Swedish healthcare setting.

For this project, we have established contacts with relevant stakeholders, which ensures access to a rich empirical material and the opportunity to validate results.