Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement Supports Home Care Action Plan

OTTAWA, Oct. 27, 2016 /CNW/ - The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement today welcomed the release of Better Home Care in Canada: A National Action Plan. Developed by the Canadian Home Care Association, Canadian Nurses Association and College of Family Physicians of Canada, the report provides a roadmap for strengthening home care and achieving a more integrated healthcare system that provides seamless patient- and family-centred care.

"The National Action Plan recognizes that home, not a hospital or long term care facility, is the best place for Canadians to recover from illness or injury, manage chronic conditions and spend their final days," said Maureen O'Neil, CFHI President. "This shift in thinking is central to the transformation of our healthcare system to better meet the needs of Canadians and I commend the partners for their important work."

To promote integrated community-based care, the report recommends accelerating the spread and scale of best practices that address the needs of people with complex chronic needs, including end-of-life care. CFHI is acknowledged as a national resource that can assist in the identification and scale of best practices, such as One Client, One Team™, Home First™, Home is Best™, The Way Forward Integrated Approach to Palliative Care, and The Patient's Medical Home.

"CFHI is ready to do its part to ensure more Canadians have access to high-quality home care services – including palliative care when necessary," said Stephen Samis, CFHI Vice-President of Programs. "By working shoulder-to-shoulder with providers, patients and families, governments and other partners to spread proven practices we can improve health and care for all Canadians."

Recent CFHI programming has focused on home and palliative care:

• The INSPIRED Approaches to COPD Collaboration demonstrated that providing care closer to home for patients with chronic diseases can reduce hospital use by up to 80 percent, improve quality of care and better support caregivers.
• The EXTRA: Executive Training Program is calling for applications from interprofessional healthcare teams that want to focus on providing care closer to home.
• The last cohort of the EXTRA program addressed palliative care, with five teams developing approaches to improve palliative care, including in the home.
• A collaboration with the Canadian Patient Safety Institute and CHCA promoted home care safety through the prevention of falls.
• CFHI is currently identifying and analyzing innovative models of palliative care, including those offered at home and in the community, with a view to spreading them across Canada.

CFHI looks forward to the detailed action plan being developed for the 'spread and scale' priority recommendation and offers its support for this valuable work.

The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement identifies proven innovations and accelerates their spread across Canada, improving patient care, the health of Canadians and value-for-money. These innovations could save healthcare budgets over $1 billion per year. CFHI is a not-for-profit organization funded by Health Canada. Visit cfhi-fcass.ca for more information.

The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of Health Canada.

SOURCE Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement

Image with caption: "Logo: Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CNW Group/Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement) (CNW Group/Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161027_C3290_PHOTO_EN_806052.jpg

Tamir Virani, Communications & Stakeholder Relations Officer, Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, 613-728-2238 x232, 613-410-2617 (cell), E: [e-mail]