Integrating primary care and social services for older adults with multimorbidity: A mixed methods study

Purpose

People are living longer lives and are more likely to develop multiple health conditions at the same time (multimorbidity). This requires medical support through GP services (primary care), alongside social support such as attention to personal needs, help with transportation or mobility and assistance with finances or housing. As services are limited and under extreme pressure, joining up or integrating primary care and social services could be helpful in increasing efficiency, reducing costs and improving experiences for patients and their families.

Aim

To study existing services and previous research to learn about what might be helpful or unhelpful in the progress towards more joined up social services and primary care for older people living with multiple health conditions in the UK.

Methods

We will search for all previous published or unpublished work on this subject. We will bring information together, summarise it and use this as a starting point to understand primary care and social services. We will then conduct interviews with people organising, delivering and using primary care or social services, such as doctors, nurses, social care staff, patients, their relatives and managers who are organising these services. We will ask them for their views on integrated care, whether existing efforts are working and what might be helpful or unhelpful in delivering more joined up care.

Implication

By understanding the existing integration between primary care and social services alongside a range of views from people who use, deliver and develop these services, we can identify gaps in care and how to address them. This will help improve services through more joined up care for older people living with multiple health conditions.