PeVA-Dem

Development of a dementia-specific nurse-led care model for German nursing homes.

Project Overview

Background

The growing multimorbidity and the rising number of people with dementia increase the complexity of nursing and medical care in German nursing homes. To achieve high-quality care for the residents, a structured coordination of interprofessional collaboration and a broad knowledge base for dealing with people with dementia is required from all professions involved. As part of the "Konzertierte Aktion Pflege", the German government recommends the development of innovative care models in which high qualified nurses will be employed effectively and according to their competences and in which interprofessional cooperation and coordination will be promoted. International professionalization models such as Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) can be used as orientation in this context.

Project Aims

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 multimorbid residents with dementia in complex care situations. As part of the development process of the nurse-led care model, possible qualification approaches (e.g. APN) will be examined with regard to their feasibility for their use in the German long term care system. Furthermore, the project aims to gain initial information on how such a nurse-led care model can be used in other care settings, such as the acute care setting (e.g. hospitals).

Methods

At the beginning of the development of the model, existing nurse-led care models will be identified and care problems and needs in nursing homes will be determined. This will be based on a literature search (national and international) and case studies. The case studies that will be used to describe the current care situation in the nursing homes will be based on quantitative questionnaires, interviews with residents with dementia and their relatives as well as interviews with the staff involved in the care of these residents with dementia. Afterwards, interviews and workshops will be conducted with stakeholders on the level of the organisation, the institution and the system in order to identify and prioritise goals and strategies in changing the current care model. From the evidence obtained a prototype of the dementia-specific, nurse-led care model will be developed. In a final step, the appropriateness of this prototype will be assessed in workshops with stakeholders and revisions will be made according to desired changes and additions.

Expected Results

Through this project, first evidence-based findings will be delivered on the design of a dementia-specific, nurse-led care model for nursing homes and on the possibilities of an implementation and the use of high qualified nursing staff in interprofessional teams in the German long term care setting. Additionally, insights are gained into the requirements and implementation possibilities of an “APN dementia” in the German care context. In a subsequent study, the dementia-specific, nurse-led care model should be implemented and evaluated with regard to acceptance, feasibility and improvement of coordination and quality of care.