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Dr. Sarah Barry

Adjunct Associate Professor (Public Health & Primary Care)
      
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Dr. Sarah Barry

Adjunct Associate Professor (Public Health & Primary Care)

 barrys6@tcd.ie

 


Dr Sarah Barry, PhD is Assistant Professor of Health Services Management at the Centre for Health Policy and Management, Trinity College Dublin. Current and recent research projects include Health system foundations for effective Regional Integrated Care Organisations (RICOs) - co-producing evidence to inform the design of regional organisations to support integrated care in Ireland 2019-2021, Independent Evaluation of Primary Care Learning Sites for Health Service Executive- Implementation of Community Healthcare Networks, Safety Culture Implementation for the Health Service Executive, Understanding Change in Complex Health Systems - A review of the literature 2007-2017, Pathways to Universal Health Care in Ireland and the Resilience of the Irish Health System in the face of Economic Crisis. Her research focusses on integrated care and policy implementation in the context of change and complex systems. She is particularly interested in knowledge making, sharing, transfer and learning at national, service delivery, regional and local levels. Sarah currently works on universal health care (UHC) implementation in collaboration with the Sláintecare Implementation Office of the Department of Health, the Irish National Programme for Integrated Care of Older Persons, and the National Strategy Office for Primary and Community Care. She has coordinated change programmes with a variety of organisations both overseas and in Ireland and has been a visiting lecturer at the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy and at IBAT Business College Dublin. Recently Sarah worked with the Irish Government's Oireachtas All-Party Committee on the Future of Health Care in Ireland in developing the Sláintecare Report and recommendations.
  Brain Health in Ageing   Changing Culture in Healthcare   Chronic Health   Community Health   Community Healthcare Reform   Connected Health   Culture and health   Global Health   HEALTH CARE   HEALTH CARE FINANCING   HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATION   Health Care Policy   Health Care Reform   Health Services Delivery   HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH   HEALTH-CARE PROVIDERS   Integrated Community Healthcare
Project Title
 Health system foundations for effective Regional Integrated Care Organisations (RICOs) - co-producing evidence to inform the design of regional organisations to support integrated care in Ireland 2019-2021
From
01/09/2019
To
31/08/2021
Summary
Health systems all over the world are struggling to provide equitable access to integrated, patient centred services that better meets the needs of individuals and populations. In Ireland, the way our health system is funded and structured creates particular barriers for people trying to access effective, responsive, quality care. The 2017 Oireachtas report, Sláintecare, set out a ten-year roadmap to deliver universal access to integrated care. In August 2018, the Department of Health published the Sláintecare Implementation Strategy which specified how Regional Integrated Care Organisations (RICOs) will be a central mechanism to funding and delivering healthcare regionally, based on population health needs, with a much stronger focus on prevention, better health outcomes, accessing care in the community. This research will be instrumental in influencing the design of RICOs and providing knowledge to enable those responsible for implementing Slaintecare (Sláintecare Implementation Office, Department of Health and HSE) to make evidence-informed decisions to deliver more effective, person-centred regional integrated care organisations (RICOs). This research will draw on international and national theory, evidence and experience to assist the Slaintecare Implementation Office work with key stakeholders to co-design the best implementation approach for RICOs. This research will be happening as the RICOs are at design and early implementation stage allowing evidence and knowledge learnt to actively feed into the realisation and development of RICOs. This learning will be useful for implementation of integrated care and major health system reform in the Irish context and internationally. The design and policy implementation process will be documented and a Living Implementation Framework with Evaluation (LIFE) will be devised in order to create a learning, iterative and collaborative practice of RICO implementation. The essence of this project is to use academic and real-world knowledge and evidence to bring about health system change in the public interest.
Funding Agency
Health Research Board
Programme
APA
Project Type
Applied System Change Mapping and Evaluation
Person Months
6
Project Title
 International Literature Review - Understanding Change in Complex Health Systems
From
01/07/2017
To
01/04/2018
Summary
Review design, development, drafting and production; liaison with commissioners, collaboration with co-authors and supervision of research assistant
Funding Agency
Organisation Development and Design Services, HSE
Project Type
Research
Person Months
4
Project Title
 All Party Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Health Care in Ireland - Phase 1 Workshop Process and Report Design
From
01/11/2016
To
31/01/2017
Summary
Funding Agency
Government of Ireland
Project Type
Technical Support
Person Months
2
Project Title
 All Party Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Health Care in Ireland - Phase 2 Technical Assistance and report Drafting
From
01/01/2017
To
31/05/2017
Summary
Technical Assistance including in-depth engagement and collaboration with the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Health Care in Ireland, generation of international evidence, data generation, coordination and management, report drafting and completion
Funding Agency
Government of Ireland
Project Type
Technical Support
Person Months
4
Project Title
 Mapping the Pathway to Universal Health Care in Ireland
From
01/10/2014
To
31/08/2017
Summary
The current Irish Government has committed itself to achieving universal access to health care, free at the point of delivery, by 2016. Yet, at the moment, timely access to essential healthcare in Ireland is often determined by ability to pay, such as with private insurance. Further, those without medical cards or GP visit cards face high charges for GP care and may put off seeking care when they need it. The benefits of universal health coverage for relieving the economic hardship from seeking care and ensuring prompt access are well recognised and there is a strong international push to achieve this, led by the WHO. In 2005, all WHO member states, including Ireland, committed to achieving universal health coverage. Nevertheless, in the current economic environment, with a 22% cut in the health budget over seven years, high indebtedness and increased demand for health and social care, achieving universal coverage is a challenge. While there is a government commitment to universalism, much government action since coming to power in 2011 has involved squeezing budgets and transferring the cost of care from the State to the people. This research adapts and applies to Ireland new international methods for assessing the progress made towards universal access to health care and measuring the gap with universalisation. It also appraises options for getting there, reviewing international case studies and assessing and modelling options according to key criteria such as cost, requirements and complexity. Finally the research identifies the challenges likely to be faced, by assessing international experiences and evaluates whether and to what extent the current systems of organisation have the necessary capacity and flexibility to deliver their stated objectives. This evidence will help inform decision making and progress Ireland towards universal access, free at the point of delivery, for all the population.
Funding Agency
Health Research Board
Programme
HRA
Project Type
Applied System Change Mapping and Evaluation
Person Months
18

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Details Date
Represented Trinity College Dublin on the Special Policy Group, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI). Produced 'Towards 2026: A future direction for Irish healthcare' in March 2017 2017
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
Italian Medium Medium Medium
Spanish Fluent Medium Fluent
Details Date From Date To
International Foundation for Integrated Care January 2018
Implementation Network of Ireland and Northern Ireland September 2018
Burke, Sara; Parker, Sarah; Fleming, Padraic; Barry, Sarah, Thomas, Steve, Building health system resilience through policy development in response to COVID-19 in Ireland: From shock to reform, The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, 10, (100223), 2021, Notes: [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100223], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Thomas,S, Johnston, J, Barry, S, Siersbaek, R, Burke, S., Sláintecare implementation status in 2020: Limited progress with entitlement expansion, Health Policy, 2021, Notes: [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2021.01.009], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Barry, S, Ní Fhallúin, M, Thomas, S, Harnett, PJ, Burke, S. , Implementing Integrated Care in Practice - Learning from MDTs Driving the Integrated Care Programme for Older Persons in Ireland, International Journal of Integrated Care , 21(1):15, ((1) ), 2021, p1 - 11, Notes: [ http://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.4682], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Unruh L, Allin, S, Marchildon, Burke, S, Barry, S, Siersbaek, Thomas, S, Selina, R, Andriy, K, Alexander, M, Merkur, S, Webb, E,Williams, GA., A comparison of health policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemicin Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America , Health Policy, online 1 July, 2021, Notes: [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2021.06.012], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Embracing and Disentangling from Private Finance: The Irish System in, editor(s)Colleen Flood and Bryan Thomas , Is two-tier health care the future?, Ottawa, University of Ottawa Press, 2020, pp291 - 314, [Stephen Thomas, Sarah Barry, Bridget Johnston, Rikke Siersbaek and Sara Burke ], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  URL
Barry, S., Sheehan, A., Kennedy, L.A., Crowley, G., Evaluating Community Healthcare Networks Primary Care Development in Ireland focussing on Stakeholder Engagement, SPHeRE Network, 6th Annual Conference - Data to Policy, RCSI Dublin, 25 February 2020, 2020, Conference Paper, PRESENTED
Barry, S., Sheehan, A., Kennedy, L.A., Crowley, G. , Evaluating Community Healthcare Networks Primary Care Development in Ireland focussing on Stakeholder Engagement, International Conference of Realist Research, Evaluation and Synthesis, Dublin Castle, Dublin, 24-26 March 2020, 2020, Conference Paper, APPROVED
Barry, S., Burke, S. , The Challenge of Co-Creating a Living Implementation Framework with Evaluation (LIFE) to Deliver Integrated Care at Whole of System Scale in Ireland, International Journal of Integrated Care, 20th International Conference on Integrated Care, Sibenik, Croatia, 27-29 April 2020, 2020, Conference Paper, APPROVED
Burke Sar, McGettrick Grainn, Foley Kare, Manikandan Manjul, Barry Sarah, The 2019 neuro-rehabilitation implementation framework in Ireland: Challenges for implementation and the implications for people with brain injuries, Health Policy, 2020, Notes: [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168851020300051], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI  URL
Barry, Sarah, Contextual Analysis for Practical Action (CAPA) Understanding context for practical learning and implementing change in complex systems, Global Implementation Conference 2019, Glasgow, Scotland, 16-17 September 2019, 2019, Conference Paper, PRESENTED
  

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Sarah Barry, Sharing the learning from the Nurture Programme: Infant Health and Wellbeing - Placing the learning in the context of international experience of change processes, Sharing the learning from the Nurture Programme: Infant Health and Wellbeing, RCSI Dublin, 4th March, 2020, Katherine Howard Foundation, Notes: [Placing the learning in the context of international experience of change processes], Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Sarah Barry, Richard Dalton & Jessica Eustace-Cook, Understanding Change in Complex Health Systems -a review of the literature on change management and social care 2007 - 2017, 2018, Review, PUBLISHED
Fleming, Padraic; McGilloway, Sinead; Barry, Sarah, Individualised funding in Ireland: Identifying and implementing lessons from elsewhere, Frontline - the Irish voice of intellectual disability, (101), 2015, p1-3 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED

  


My research interests focus on the challenges of health system and organisational change in terms of policy translation, integrated care delivery, health and social care system reform. Currently I am progressing these interests through the follow research projects: Health system foundations for effective Regional Integrated Care Organisations (RICOs) - co-producing evidence to inform the design of regional organisations to support integrated care in Ireland 2019-2021, Independent Evaluation of Primary Care Learning Sites for Health Service Executive- Implementation of Community Healthcare Networks, Safety Culture Implementation for the Health Service Executive, Understanding Change in Complex Health Systems - A review of the literature 2007-2017, Pathways to Universal Health Care in Ireland and the Resilience of the Irish Health System in the face of Economic Crisis.