Integrated Complex Care
The Integrated Complex Care professorship focuses on patients with both psychiatric and physiological health problems. This group is characterized by very complex health issues. As a result, care for this group is often subject to conflicting professional treatment guidelines and a strict separation between the psychiatric and somatic care provided.
The professorship aims to:
Develop knowledge
With a special focus on the interplay between psychiatric and physiological disorders. The study exploring the use of Motivational Interviewing techniques with patients diagnosed with schizophrenia prior to using new medications is an example.
Better organise care for patients with complex needs
By identifying patients with complex care needs more quickly and effectively, it will be possible to deliver tailor-made care packages. The study among older cardiology patients who receive care following acute hospitalisation and wish to retain their autonomy is an example.
Improve the way care is organised
By providing care in patients’ own home environments, it is possible to prevent unnecessary readmissions, frequent visits to GPs or urgent care, high healthcare costs and a decline in patients’ quality of life.
A district nurse is an indispensable link here, which calls for specialist training. By researching the role of district nurses at the Bachelor’s level, the professorship is gaining insight into what this training should include and how this aligns with students’ wishes.
Research into how patients with complex care needs can be identified provides opportunities for organising tailor-made care.
Cooperation
The professorship works closely with healthcare providers and sets priorities based on questions from clinicians. In view of the current developments in the healthcare sector, where the emphasis is increasingly shifting to so-called preventative care and community care, it’s important that the right care for this complex patient group is organised and provided at the right time by the right people.
The IIntegrated Complex Care Professorship also aims to create a solid foundation for the triad of research, education and clinical practice, or the ‘trias academica’. These three must always go hand in hand. We are doing this by establishing academic collaborative centres in conjunction with the Cordaan and Allerzorg healthcare organisations and the AMC.
The professorship is affiliated with the Bachelor’s programme in Nursing at the Faculty of Health and the Complex Care research programme.
International networks
The professorship works closely with the Case Management Society of America, the European Association of Psychosomatic Medicine, the Special Interest Group on Integrated Care established by EHMA, and the INTERMED consortium to also explore the objectives mentioned above from an international perspective.