Coordinated-care teams: Improving health and social care for older Israelis

Conclusion

Despite the difficulties, professionals involved in the demonstration program at all levels were convinced that this was indeed the most appropriate way to coordinate care within the Israeli system. A decisive majority of field workers participating in the demonstration program were satisfied with the work of the coordinated-care team and felt that teamwork vastly improved the quality of care for the elderly.

It seems that the model of inter-organizational and interdisciplinary teams provides the structural conditions that enable professionals to care for the elderly according to their own perceptions of good professional practices. These naturally include comprehensiveness and continuity of care, which enable them to assume more responsibility for all the elderly’s needs. Because the program was based on existing providers of care, it was not difficult to integrate care and case management functions, thereby enabling the teams to reach their professional goals. Acceptance on the part of professionals of shared responsibility capitalized on the advantages of teamwork. This proved to be effective in overcoming previous conflicts among the organizations and helped to structure more clearly the boundaries of responsibility of each team member and each organization.