Demenzspezifische Versorgung in der stationären Altenhilfe (DeLonCa)
Project overview
| Duration: | started in 2026 |
| Funding: | DZNE Witten |
| Project Management: | Dr. Bernhard Holle |
| Project staff : |
Background
Residential long-term care is facing major and increasingly complex challenges. Demographic change, the shortage of qualified nursing staff, increasing care needs among residents, and reforms of long-term care insurance are fundamentally transforming the framework conditions of care provision. At the same time, digitalisation and artificial intelligence are gaining increasing importance for the organisation and quality of nursing care. While digital applications offer new opportunities to support care provision, they also raise organisational and ethical questions.
Objectives of the project line
The DeLonCa project line aims to systematically analyse and further develop the structural conditions for person-centred care for people living with dementia in nursing homes. A main objective is to identify organisational, professional, and regulatory conditions that support high-quality, person-centred, and sustainable care.
Currently, three thematic areas constitute the focus of the project line: first, the development of competency profiles for professional carers in dementia-specific long-term care (PeVaDem); second, issues related to the dementia-sensitive design of nursing homes (DANTE); and third, the examination of regulatory frameworks of person-centred care in this setting (DemPol-Q).
Methods
To achieve these objectives, a range of qualitative and quantitative methods is applied. The studies are designed to involve key stakeholders in residential long-term care not only in data collection but also in the development of care solutions. This approach ensures that evidence-based insights are closely linked to long-term care practice and contribute to the further development of this form of care. Particular emphasis is placed on involving residents living with dementia in an appropriate manner in order to ensure that outcomes are shaped in a person-centred way.
Process evaluation methods play a pivotal role in the methodological framework of DeLonCa. They are used to systematically accompany implementation processes, identify facilitating and inhibiting factors, and support the sustainable integration of care solutions across different care contexts.
Expected outcomes
The DeLonCA research activities focus on key outcomes in residential long-term care, addressing both staff-related and resident-related aspects.
Publications
Schmüdderich, K., Fahsold, A., Dörner, J., Roes, M., Palm, R., & Holle, B. (2025). Provision of dementia-specific care in nursing homes in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) - analysis of person-centered practices and related problems within a holistic multiple case study. BMC Nurs, 24(1), 116. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-02726-5
Hoffmann-Hoffrichter, A., Rommerskirch-Manietta, M., Holle, B., Palm, R., & Roes, M. (2025). Person-Zentrierung in der stationären Altenhilfe. Eine qualitative Dokumentenanalyse von Leitbildern. Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie, 58, 674–680. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-025-02443-3
Fahsold, A., Schmüdderich, K., Roes, M., Verbeek, H., Palm, R., & Holle, B. (2024). The Perspective of Residents Living with Dementia toward their Built Environment: A Walking Interview Study in German Nursing Homes. Innovation in Aging, igae058. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igae058
Schmüdderich, K., Dörner, J., Fahsold, A., Palm, R., Roes, M., & Holle, B. (2024). Current situation, strengths and problems in intra- and interprofessional collaboration in German nursing homes - A holistic multiple case study. BMC Geriatr, 24(1), 610. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-024-05182-z
Hoffmann-Hoffrichter, A. L., Rommerskirch-Manietta, M., Bergmann, J. M., Roes, M., B., H., & Palm, R. (2024). Describing the status quo of person-centred dementia care in different types of care units in German nursing homes: A convergent mixed methods study. International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, 7. doi.org/DOI: 10.1016/j.ijnsa.2024.100233
Fahsold, A., Brennan, S., Doan, T., Sun, J., Palm, R., Verbeek, H., & Holle, B. (2022). Adapting the Australian Environmental Assessment Tool—High Care (EAT-HC): Experiences and Practical Implications From Germany, Japan, and Singapore. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 0(0), 19375867221122936. https://doi.org/10.1177/19375867221122936
Palm, R., Fahsold, A., Roes, M., & Holle, B. (2021). Context, mechanisms and outcomes of dementia special care units: An initial programme theory based on realist methodology. PLoS One, 16(11), e0259496. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259496
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