Global health

Background: Vietnam has experienced a rapid increase in cancer incidence with many cancers (70%) being diagnosed at a late stage. The majority of physical and psychosocial care is provided by caregivers with minimal professional input. Due to limited resources in hospitals and social and cultural norms regarding caregiving in Vietnam, caregivers provide a range of supportive functions for family members diagnosed with cancer.

Background: Thailand’s population is currently the third most rapidly aging in the world, with an estimated 20 million ageing population by 2050. Sustainability of the family based long-term care model is challenged by the chronic burden on family caregivers and by smaller family sizes. We aimed to introduce a new service model, Community Integrated Intermediary Care (CIIC), TCTR20190412004, including free of charge intermediary care services at CIIC centers in the local community, to help older adults whose caregivers are temporarily unable to sustain care at home.

Context: Mobile health (mHealth) provides an opportunity to use internet coverage in low- and middle-income countries to improve palliative care access and quality. Objectives: This study aimed to design a mobile phone application (app) to enable or improve communication between family caregivers, community caregivers, and palliative care teams; to evaluate its acceptability, processes, and mechanisms of action; and to propose refinements.

Islene Araujo de Carvalho and coauthors discuss the WHO guidelines on integrated care for older people.

Summary points: