integrated framework of competences (IFC)

One of the first results of the Erasmus+ TEAMCARE Project is the EU Integrated Framework of Competences (IFC) which represent the preliminary step for the development of an EU Curriculum for “Specialists in Community-Based Interprofessional Teams (CBIT) for person-centred care”.

The IFC was developed after an international contextual analysis and shaped on a set of specific core competences identified through an e-Delphi study involving an international panel of 18 experts from 6 different countries, working in a wide range of contexts: academics, policy-makers, managers of community healthcare services, experts of community healthcare best practices, socio-economics, interprofessional collaboration, and this enabled to produce a more comprehensive and exhaustive list of competences.

The IFC does not define a new professional profile but identifies a set of core competencies for social and health care professionals to effectively be part of CBITs: this implies both actively participating in team processes and dynamics and being able to adopt a person-centered approach to practice, based on a holistic assessment of service users' needs, and profiting on the main ICT solutions available.

The IFC structure consists of 5 Areas: 1) Interprofessional teamwork; 2) Interprofessional Communication, Roles, and Professional Conduct; 3) Shared Vision and Approach to Healthcare; 4) Digital Health; and 5) Planning and Coordination of Integrated Care Services, for a total of 58 core competences.

The IFC for the CBIT will be used to develop the EU Curriculum, which will then be “localized” and further evaluated after conducting the Pilot Courses for CBIT Specialists in Italy, Ireland, Greece and Poland.