Project Details

As the proportion of older and very old people in society increases, the question of care requirements for older people and the resulting need for help and care is becoming increasingly important, particularly with regard to the appropriate care of people with dementia. The issue of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) due to polypharmacy is increasingly becoming the focus of care. The topics of multimedication and ADRs in older people have only recently been systematically analysed in Germany. They are a neglected phenomenon in the care and support of older people, particularly in long-term inpatient care. The international research situation indicates that ADRs are very diverse, reduce quality of life, increase the progression of care dependency and can even lead to death.

The subject of the project is the evaluation of an IT-supported monitoring system for the prevention of ADRs in the long-term inpatient care of older people with care needs and/or dementia. The aim of the planned pilot project is to maintain and improve the quality of life of those affected as well as the (secondary and tertiary) prevention of increasing health impairments.

The planned project consists of the following parts:

A. Implementation of an IT-supported monitoring system for drug administration in an inpatient long-term care facility of the "Berlin model" with the involvement of relevant professional groups, such as caring nursing staff and attending physicians, with the aim of avoiding ADRs.

B. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the IT-supported monitoring system for drug administration using resident-related outcome parameters from the areas of quality of life and the maintenance of physical and psychosocial health as well as social participation.The evaluation is carried out as part of a prospective longitudinal study with a control group design.

C. Benchmarking of the participating inpatient long-term care facilities in comparison to all inpatient long-term care facilities in the Berlin model using selected outcome parameters to characterise health and social care with the aim of being able to estimate a possible future improvement in quality as a result of the intervention.

The project thus makes an important contribution to improving the quality of life of older people with care needs and/or dementia. The prevention of ADRs also enables savings to be made in the nursing/medical care sector, as consequences such as falls and hospital admissions can be reduced. The results obtained can also be used for subsequent research and development approaches and form the basis for a nationwide generalisability of quality development and assurance concepts in relation to ADRs in inpatient long-term care facilities. The project thus makes a decisive contribution to research into the care situation of people in need of care and to improving their health care in the long term.

Contact:

Prof. Dr Karin Wolf-Ostermann

E-mail: wolf-ostermann(at)uni-bremen.de

Johannes Gräske

E-mail: graeske(at)uni-bremen.de