Abstract
The organisation and accomplishment of high-quality care transitions relies upon the coordination of multiple professionals, working within and across multiple care processes, settings and organisations, each with their own distinct ways of working, profile of resources and modes of organising. In short, care transitions might easily be regarded as complex activities that take place within complex systems, which can make accomplishing high-quality care challenging. In its broadest sense, this collection is concerned with the complexities of achieving quality in care transitions.
In the first chapter, we set the scene by exploring the growing and complex field of care transitions. We do so by first addressing the macro-level political drivers for care transitions and the common concepts found across the field of enquiry. We then turn to the micro-level of the patient and care team by means of two patient stories, which again bring to light the complex character of care transition but also the unique perspective of the patient. We also present the heterogenic research evidence related to quality in care transitions before we arrive at the need for a new analytical heuristics for care transitions. Finally, we present a reader’s guide for the remainder of this collection.
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Acknowledgements
Eva’s story has been authored by researcher Dagrunn Nåden Dyrstad as part of the ‘Quality and safety in transitional care of the elderly’ project, funded by the Norwegian Research Council (under grant agreement no. 204637). Thelma’s story has been authored by Fiona Marshal and Justin Waring as part of research funded by The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research Programme, UK: “An ethnographic study of knowledge sharing across the boundaries between care processes, services and organisations: the contributions to safe hospital discharge” (Waring et al. 2014).
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Aase, K., Schibevaag, L., Waring, J. (2017). Crossing Boundaries: Quality in Care Transitions. In: Aase, K., Waring, J., Schibevaag, L. (eds) Researching Quality in Care Transitions. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62346-7_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62346-7_1
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