Innovation for change
House Calls, Canada
House Calls is a primary healthcare program for homebound seniors in Toronto, Ontario, providing comprehensive primary medical care as well as occupational therapy, physiotherapy, social work and connections to community support services for seniors living at home with frailties. House Calls and its partners also work closely with hospitals and other healthcare provides to foster client-centred continuity of care, especially during transitions between care providers.
Community Paramedicine, Canada
In some Canadian jurisdictions, unnecessary 911 calls and emergency department visits have been rising by as much as 8 per cent annually. Community paramedicine, such as the successful program in the Kitchener-Waterloo Region, emphasizes a more proactive and preventive approach to care by using paramedics in expanded roles. Community paramedics go into the homes of older adults to help them with non-emergency medical care and assess for risks such as diabetes, falls and home safety, resulting in reduced emergency calls, transport to emergency rooms or hospitalization.
Buurtzorg Neighbourhood Care (Sweden)
Buurtzorg is a pioneering healthcare organization established 13 years ago with a nurse-led model of holistic care that has revolutionized community care in the Netherlands and other parts of Europe. Teams deliver self-empowered care in neighbourhoods with the aim to provide high-quality and cost-efficient care that fosters warm, trusting relationships. Time is not an important indicator for care delivery, and the focus is on ensuring that the older adult receives the care they need and feels supported.
Long Live the Elderly, Italy
Long Live the Elderly!, which started in Rome in 2004 in response to the devastating loss of frail, isolated older adults during a prolonged heat wave in Europe, provided an effective model of response during COVID-19 lockdowns. The innovative approach fights social isolation through the creation of networks that augment traditional approaches through proactive monitoring and prevention, reaching large sectors of the risk-exposed population and employing a set of Core Actions.