Continuity for Quality of Care and Health

About Continuity for Quality of Care and Health

Research within the platform aims to produce sustainable knowledge of relevance for patients and their relatives, healthcare- professionals and organisations, regardless of context, as well as for higher education.

Patient-(Professional)-Public involvement (PPI) will be one of the cornerstones in the development of research projects within the platform. Additional, projects within the platform will depart from a set of strategical frameworks of importance for the development of sustainable research (Box 1). These frameworks will support the development of research designs that; ensures relevant research; ensures and adds value in research; and ensures quality in research. Using a set of strategic frameworks will assure that effectiveness and usability aspects are a strong part of the projects design. Each project will be designed with a strong external, but unique relation, to the programmatic research platforms overarching and unifying concept i.e., continuity and quality of care. Amalgamating projects around core concepts (continuity and quality of care), will support the development of a knowledge loop (learn, create, share, and learn again) regarding the concept per se, whilst it also will contribute to a sustainable knowledge development with health service research, with the specific focus on nursing and nursing science, and the individual topics in foci.

The present knowledgebase regarding the concept of continuity within health service and nursing research reflects fragmented evidence whilst also highlighting an interchangeable use of different concepts such as transitional care, integrated care, coordinated care and continuity of care. At present Freeman and colleagues (2000; 2002) are those offering the most comprehensive definition of continuity of care (Box 2). Their definition is yet to be explored and tested but it will initially offer a solid departure base for the programmatic research platforms unifying concept of continuity (or discontinuity). Considering the present evidence concerning the operationalisation and definition of continuity, each unique platform project is therefore expected to, within its project design, to succinctly articulate its specific and wider contribution to the concept of continuity (and quality of care) within health service research, nursing, and nursing research.

Members

The platform is, at present, led by Professor Gunilla Borglin in close collaboration with each project’s principal investigator (Professors Siren Eriksen and Edith Roth Gjevjon and associate professor Cecilia Olsson with support by the Nordic Research Group. The platform engages about ten Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish researchers (the Nordic research group) and four PhD-student (3 Norwegian and 1 Swedish).