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. 2023 Oct 6:68:1606338.
doi: 10.3389/ijph.2023.1606338. eCollection 2023.

The Activity of Special Continuity Care Units in the City of Florence During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Chiara Milani  1 , Primo Buscemi  2 , Beatrice Velpini  2 , Giulia Naldini  3 , Claudia Cosma  2 , Francesco Giannuzzi  2 , Giulia Ionita  2 , Pietro Monaci  2 , Ruggero Landi  4 , Irene Pontalti  4 , Lorenzo Baggiani  3 , Marco Nerattini  5 , Chiara Lorini  1 , Guglielmo Bonaccorsi  1
Affiliations

The Activity of Special Continuity Care Units in the City of Florence During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Chiara Milani et al. Int J Public Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: Worldwide, countries adopted different strategies in primary care (PC) to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to describe and evaluate the functions and activity load of a specific PC organizational model called "Special Continuity Care Units" (SCCU) in Florence, Italy, and to investigate the characteristics of the COVID-19 patients assisted by the service. Methods: The retrospective cross-sectional design used daily updated reports by SCCU team members to evaluate the activity load. The retrospective cohort study analyzed data of the demographics, clinical characteristics, and process outcomes of patients assisted during the second pandemic wave. Results: The analysis shows how the service activity load changed along with the epidemiological trend. Regarding people assisted by the SCCU, the median follow-up duration of symptoms was 6 days; male gender and being symptomatic were predictors of hospitalization. Conclusion: Some key characteristics can be described as indispensable in PC services facing health emergencies: model flexibility, the availability of resources, networking among services to enhance coordination and resource optimization, and close collaboration with general practitioners.

Keywords: COVID-19; home care services; multiprofessional team; primary care; public health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest.

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