Areas of investigation/research focus
With a methodological focus on the area of health services research, the research group picks up on current and anticipated issues of organizing the care of people with dementia and provides scientific results that are of high practical relevance.
The substantial issues of the research group Care Structures are:
- What is the contribution of the health care structures for people with dementia and their relatives regarding their needs, demands and stability of the care arrangement?
- How can health care structures be designed and developed in order to make a targeted contribution to the care of people with dementia and to supporting their families and relatives?
Besides the adjustment to the demands and needs of people with dementia and their families, there are more factors of crucial importance for the structural configuration of health care services. Important factors for the configuration of appropriate care services in their respective settings are: legal and economic parameters, organizational standards, interdisciplinary cooperation and the dementia-specific skills of the professions.
To focus on the two substantial issues, different research projects were established in the last years. For the Future it is planned two focus on different aspects in two major projects which are named :
SoCA (Stability of care arrangements for people living with dementia)
Most people with dementia live at home. It is their and their families’ express wish to stay and care in their familiar environment. Likewise, the maintenance of sustainable home-based care arrangements is an imperative for social security and health care policy. The project line SoCA researches the complex phenomenon of stability of home-based care arrangements for people living with dementia from theory to intervention, and with a broad spectrum of methodologies.
BeStaDem (Dementia special care for people in nursing homes – an evaluation project)
A dementia special care for people in nursing homes demands special concepts. Various different specialized care concepts have been developed and implemented within the last years. The question is how structures should be organized for specialized care concepts in order to create a high quality of care. Likewise, it should be investigated how funding can be provided for these services. The study aims to generate a programmatic evaluation of special dementia care in stationary geriatric care.
PeVA-Dem (Development of a dementia-specific nurse-led care model for German nursing homes)
The complexity of nursing and medical care in nursing homes requires innovative care models that ensure high-quality care for multimorbid residents. The aim of the project PeVA-Dem is the development of a dementia-specific, nurse-led care model for German nursing homes to improve the interprofessional care of residents with dementia in complex care situations.
G-EAT (BeStaDem - German Environmental Audit Tool)
The project aims to translate, culturally adapt and test the Australian in Environmental Audit Tool – High Care for its application in Germany. The tool should structurally assess the physical environment in nursing homes with regard to its adequacy for people with dementia.
Third-Party Funded Projects
e-Dem-Connect
Supporting family carers is an essential part in the care of people with dementia. In the project eDEM-CONNECT, a chatbot-based communication and service platform will be developed for dealing with agitation and promoting stability in home-based care arrangements together with family carers.