DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of Health and social care services for vulnerable Older Brazilians (IHOB).

Project disclaimer

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Description

Just as in the UK, Brazil has a large public healthcare system which aims to provide good care to all. And just as in the UK, it is facing mounting financial pressure, partly due to the health needs of a rapidly ageing population. This project aims to support policy and practice, with a view to improving the efficiency of service provision and optimising the health of older Brazilians. We will focus on reducing numbers of unnecessary admissions of older people to hospitals, as well as to residential care homes, and excessively long stays there. These take resources away from services that could better meet the needs of older Brazilians. Also, unnecessary hospital stays expose older people to new health risks, such as hospital acquired infections, and are at odds with the stated preference of most older people to remain living in their own homes. The study will develop a clear strategy for identifying whether an admission could have been averted, or a length of stay feasibly reduced. We will do this by looking at studies and experiences in other countries such as the UK and talking to policymakers and practitioners in Brazil. We will then analyse data from a new national survey called ELSI to see which older people are most likely to experience these problems and what situations trigger unneeded admissions/lengthy stays. Brazil is geographically diverse and there are limits to what can be learned from statistical data. With this in mind, we will develop more detailed case studies of 2 cities in different regions: Belo Horizonte and Fortaleza. We will ask policymakers and practitioners about how things are done locally -this will cover many issues, including how people are referred from family doctors to hospital and how they are discharged from hospital. We will also work closely with people in social care, as this strongly affects health service use. In each city we will select about 20 older people from participants in the ELSI survey and talk to them and their families about their experiences. Together, this information should provide a clear picture of the problem. We will also focus on solutions. We will look at experiences of other countries, especially the UK which has implemented a number of related policies and projects. We will review an interesting pilot project in Belo Horizonte (one reason we chose this location). The project offers temporary homecare services for frail people, in order to help family members learn how to provide this care themselves and with a view to preventing future need for more intensive and expensive service provision. We will carefully assess this project, considering how well it has worked (in the eyes of practitioners, as well as older people and families) and if it has effected unneeded admissions/long stays. We will also use local data on hospital admissions for different health conditions. Working closely with local officials, we will suggest modifications to the project, as needed. In all pilot projects a big challenge is assessing if they can be extended to new locations. Belo Horizonte is a relatively affluent city with good services, but what about poorer cities? Why this in mind, we will assess the feasibility of extending the pilot project (or a modified version, if required) to Fortaleza. Working with policymakers and practitioners, we will develop a local version of the project and apply it to about 20 families over 6 months. If it looks promising, we plan to ask for more funds, separately from this study, for a larger pilot which we can assess more thoroughly. We will work closely with policymakers and practitioner throughout the study. Towards the end, we will provide a high-level national report summarising the evidence and what we have learned, as well as more specific "toolkits" for people working in local Brazilian health districts. We hope this will also inform efforts in the UK and other countries to face these important challenges.

Objectives

The Newton Fund builds research and innovation partnerships with developing countries across the world to promote the economic development and social welfare of the partner countries.

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Location

The country, countries or regions that benefit from this Programme.

Brazil

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