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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Marja J. Verhoef, PhD1, Barbara Findlay, RN, BA2, and Timothy Yeomans, MD2. (1) Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada, 403-270-7307, mverhoef@ucalgary.ca, (2) Tzu Chi Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 715 West 12th Avenue, Health Centre, 4th Floor West, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9, Canada
Objective: Strong consumer demand for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has given rise to a form of integrated health care delivery that combines CAM and conventional medicine. As evaluation is of great importance to the evolution of integrated care we will discuss appropriate ways of evaluating such a model. Example: The Tzu Chi Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is a non-profit organization with the mandate to provide a combination of CAM and conventional health care that integrates mind, body, spirit and energy (holistic care), to conduct research and evaluation, and to provide education and information to the general public. Evaluation: First, evaluation should include assessment of patient outcomes. This may require that new outcome measures be developed to measure the unique features of integrated care. Second, qualitative research is needed for a program that aims at providing holistic care as it allows assessing the complexities of such a model, which emphasizes non-linear processes of change in patients. Third, utilization research is needed to compare participants in an integrated care model with matched controls, using local or provincial health care databases. Fourth, in a program that focuses on individualizing treatment it is very important to assess patients' treatment goals and the extent to which they are met. Last, as integrative programs are often expensive to implement, cost benefit analysis is needed to assess the financial costs relative to the gains attributable to it. Conclusion: A combined methods (holistic) approach is needed to appropriately evaluate integrated health care delivery.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Evaluation, Health Care Delivery
Related Web page: www.tzu-chi.bc.ca
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.