Two new aspects of continuity of care

作者：Kerr Jonathan R^*; Schultz Karen; Delva Dianne

来源：Canadian Family Physician, 2012, 58(8): E442-E449.

Objective To determine whether the original continuity of care framework is still applicable to family medicine today. %26lt;br%26gt;Design Qualitative descriptive study. Setting Kingston, Ont. %26lt;br%26gt;Participants Three groups of first-year family medicine residents (18 in total), 2 groups of family physicians in established comprehensive practices (9 in total), and 2 groups of family physicians working in episodic care settings (10 in total). %26lt;br%26gt;Methods Using focus groups, a semistructured discussion guide, and a qualitative descriptive design, we explored the residents%26apos; and practising physicians%26apos; conceptions about continuity of care. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify themes. %26lt;br%26gt;Main findings Focus group participants consisting of family physicians providing comprehensive care, episodic care physicians, and family medicine residents exposed 2 new dimensions of continuity of care-community continuity of care (the physicians%26apos; roles in understanding the lives of their patients, and how this affects their overall health) and continuity of care within the health care team (the continuity between a patient and members of the interprofessional team, including the family physician). Geographic continuity of care (the care of a patient in various settings by the same physician) was not prominently discussed, perhaps reflecting the paucity of family physicians in the hospital setting. %26lt;br%26gt;Conclusion Both of these new dimensions of continuity of care are consistent with the ongoing evolution of family medicine as a discipline, and have important implications for how family medicine training programs should be designed to best prepare trainees for future practice.

• 出版日期2012-8