Health system capacity: maternal health policy implementation in the state of Gujarat, India.

Introduction: The Government of Gujarat has for the past couple of decades continuously initiated several interventions to improve access to care for pregnant and delivering women within the state. Data from the last District Family Heath survey in Gujarat in 2007-2008 show that 56.4% of women had institutional deliveries and 71.

Developing interprofessional collaboration: a longitudinal case of secondary prevention for patients with osteoporosis.

The aim of this study was to explore the development of interprofessional collaboration aiming to improve secondary prevention of osteoporosis by studying this topic expansively from the perspectives of different stakeholders. The method used was a longitudinal single case study with both qualitative and quantitative data sources. The findings elucidate that the bottom-up structure used triggers a freedom to act for the professionals and a changed leadership.

Is choice of care compatible with integrated health care? An exploratory study in Sweden.

Competitive and integrative policy actions are simultaneously being promoted in Swedish primary care; citizens' choice of care is launched while primary care is expected to integrate its activities with other providers for the creation of 'local health care'. Competition tends, however, to fragment the provision of services. The aim of this study is, accordingly, to explore whether or not these policies are compatible in practice.

A conceptual framework for assessing interorganizational integration and interprofessional collaboration.

The need for collaboration in health and social welfare is well documented internationally. It is related to the improvement of services for the users, particularly target groups with multiple problems. However, there is still insufficient knowledge of the complex area of collaboration, and the interprofessional literature highlights the need to develop adequate research approaches for exploring collaboration between organizations, professionals and service users.

Organizational approaches to collaboration in vocational rehabilitation-an international literature review.

Introduction: Collaboration between welfare organizations is an important strategy for integrating different health and welfare services. This article reports a review of the international literature on vocational rehabilitation, focusing on different organizational models of collaboration as well as different barriers and facilitating factors.

Methods: The review was based on an extensive search in scientific journals from 1995 to 2010, which generated more than 13,000 articles.

A decade of integration and collaboration: the development of integrated health care in Sweden 2000-2010.

Introduction: The recent history of integrated health care in Sweden is explored in this article, focusing on the first decade of the 2000s. In addition, there are some reflections about successes and setbacks in this development and challenges for the next decade.

Description Of Policy And Practice: The first efforts to integrate health care in Sweden appeared in the beginning of the 1990s.

Mutualism and antagonism within organisations of integrated health care.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the concepts of Swedish integrated health care, their state of development and interdependence, and, furthermore, evaluate whether the theoretical framework used improves the comprehension of why integrated health care arrangements endure or cease.

Design/methodology/approach: The study is founded on descriptive data gathered from a literature search on integrated health care in Sweden. With inspiration from ecology theory, these data were analysed guided by a theoretical model based on a continuum of symbiotic effects, from antagonism to mutualism.

Competition and integration in Swedish health care.

Despite of an insignificant track record of quasi-market models in Sweden, new models of this kind have recently been introduced in health care; commonly referred to as "choice of care". This time citizens act as purchasers; choosing the primary care centre or family physician they want to be treated by, which, in turn, generates a capitation payment to the chosen unit. Policy makers believe that such systems will be self-remedial, that is, as a result of competition the strong providers survive while unprofitable ones will be eliminated.

Evaluating intersectoral collaboration: a model for assessment by service users.

Introduction: DELTA was launched as a project in 1997 to improve intersectoral collaboration in the rehabilitation field. In 2005 DELTA was transformed into a local association for financial co-ordination between the institutions involved. Based on a study of the DELTA service users, the purpose of this article is to develop and to validate a model that can be used to assess the integration of welfare services from the perspective of the service users.

Is it better to be big? The reconfiguration of 21st century hospitals: responses to a hospital merger in Sweden.

Objectives: Swedish hospital mergers seem to stem from a conviction among policy makers that bigger hospitals lead to lower average costs and improved clinical outcomes. The effects of mergers in the form of multisited hospitals have not been systematically evaluated. The purpose of this article is to contribute to this area of knowledge by exploring responses to the merger of Blekinge Hospital.

Determinants of integrated health care development: chains of care in Sweden.

Local health care in Sweden is an emerging form of integrated care, linked together by chains of care. Experiences show, however, that the development of chains of care is making slow progress. In order to study the factors behind this development, an embedded multiple-case study design was chosen.

Chain of care development in Sweden: results of a national study.

Chains of Care are today an important counterbalance to the ever-increasing fragmentation of Swedish health care, and the ongoing development work has high priority. Improved quality of care is the most important reason for developing Chains of Care. Despite support in the form of goals and activity plans, seven out of ten county councils are uncertain whether they have been quite successful in the development work.

Evaluating integrated health care: a model for measurement.

Purpose: In the development of integrated care, there is an increasing need for knowledge about the actual degree of integration between different providers of health services. The purpose of this article is to describe the conceptualisation and validation of a practical model for measurement, which can be used by managers to implement and sustain integrated care.

Theory: The model is based on a continuum of integration, extending from full segregation through intermediate forms of linkage, coordination and cooperation to full integration.