What is the relevance of policy transfer and policy translation in integrated care development?

Purpose: This article documents the presence of policy transfer on integrated care development, its global occurrence and shifts towards integrated care. It highlights the influence of supranational forces, the roles of policy transfer, and the relevance of policy translation in the development of integrated care.

Design/methodology: This article presents the findings of an international review of the policy transfer of integrated care, and the relevance of policy translation in integrated care development.

Findings: The global occurrence in integrated care, as evinced in this article, can be seen in the global shift towards integrated care in various countries. However, studies exploring the actual mechanism of policy transfer and policy translation in relation to integrated care across countries are limited. The study of integrated care through the lens of policy transfer is important, as it for example, explores the structural elements, including environmental and cognitive obstacles in the policy transfer process. Policy translation offers a social constructivist approach to explore the travel of ideas, and considers the multiple spatial and scalar contexts in which integrated care policy is implemented.

Originality/value: This article aims to advance policy transfer and policy translation as complementary frameworks to explain integrated care development. Second, it seeks to make novel and useful contributions to the debate about the development of integrated care, and to the wider arguments on policy transfer and policy translation and integrated care in other parts of the world.