Projektdetails

The object of the project is the development and evaluation of a quality development concept including research- and knowledge-based quality indicators for outpatient assisted living communities for older people in need of care, including people with dementia, embedded in an action-oriented, participatory intervention research approach. The aim of the quality concept is to maintain and improve the quality of life of those affected and to prevent increasing health impairments (secondary and tertiary prevention of the need for care and/or dementia).

In addition to the care services working in the shared flats and those providing the living space, the quality development concept also involves the doctors and therapists in private practice in order to strengthen and develop the local support system as a whole. The involvement of relatives and patients themselves is also of great importance.

This study included all outpatient care services in the state of Berlin that provide or make available care and support services for people in assisted living flats as defined in Section 4 (1) of the Wohnteilhabegesetz Berlin (WTG).

The WGQual study comprised a cross-sectional and a longitudinal study.

The cluster randomisation in the longitudinal section was intended to monitor quality development in the groups in different ways.On the one hand, one group of WGs was to be systematically supported in the implementation of quality development using the defined quality indicators; on the other hand, another group was to receive no intervention at all.

A total of n = 104 flat-share residents (n = 34 flat-share residents) were included in the longitudinal study. N = 68 of the original participants could be interviewed again twelve months later. Due to randomisation, 49 people (47.1%) were in the intervention group and 55 people (52.9%) were in the control group.N = 68 of the original participants could be interviewed again twelve months later at time t1. At time t0, 73.1 % of all those surveyed were female. The mean age of the sample was 79.0 years. The participants had been living in the flat share for an average of around three years (33 months) at the time they entered the study. Approximately 87.0% of all participants have a medically diagnosed dementia. In the cross-sectional study, data from a total of n = 396 residents from 58 shared flats (n = 25 care services) was available for the analysis. At 69.4%, the proportion of female residents in all shared flats was predominant (men: 30.6%).The average age of the residents is 78.4 years.The average resident community in a shared flat consists of 7.1 residents, varying between three in four shared flats and a maximum of 12 residents in one shared flat.At 73.1% (n = 282), almost three quarters of the shared flat residents with a diagnosis have dementia.On average, the residents live in the shared flat for around 2.7 years.

As part of the study, quality indicators were developed to assess the performance of shared flats.The indicators (n = 39) are based on the results of a systematic literature search that included 567 publications. The quality indicators (Worch et al. 2011) were developed in particular for use in assisted living communities, are divided into structural, process and outcome indicators and include all stakeholder groups in assisted living communities.