The Elderly People's Integrated Care System
What is EPICS?
An Elderly People's Integrated Care System provides comprehensive, centre-based, integrated health, social, and personal care which will support frail elderly people living in their own homes.
EPICS is based on the philosophy (and pre-requisites) that:
- the total needs and preferences of an older person must be the prime consideration
- an EPICS Centre is essential for the supply of all the health, social, and personal care requirements of frail older people
- integrated working is at the heart of the system. In any area the main care providing organisations should operate as a partnership - 'as if one organisation' - especially from older people's viewpoint
- adequate resources must be available to operate the system. Good quality care focused on an EPICS Centre is likely to be provided at a lower individual cost than for residential or nursing home care
In order to acheive an EPICS, the following elements are required:
- a holistic assessment of an older person's situation and requirements, carried out in conjunction with him or her (and any carers), from which appropriate actions are agreed by all involved (this should include preventative and anticipatory care)
- generic care staff who provide wide-ranging help, support and treatment across the traditional organisational, agency and professional boundaries, both in the Centre and people's own homes
- a trans-dissciplinary operational team which is responsible for individual care programmes (assessment, implementation, monitoring and review)
- a joint management board from the partnership organisations (eg Social Services Department, Health Authority, Family Health Services Authority, Housing and Voluntary Organisations, and others) to be responsible for resources ( an amalgamated budget), policy and the provision of services in their area
This text is taken from:
EPICS - an Organisational Policy and Practice Review
© 1991 Nuffield Institute for Health Services Studies
ISBN 187197707 X