Background: The current uptake of many vaccinations recommended for persons aged 60 and older is unsatisfactory in Germany. Lack of confidence in the safety and efficacy of vaccinations, lack of knowledge and insecurities about possible side effects, and numerous pragmatic barriers are just some of the reasons to be mentioned. General practitioners (GPs) play a central role in the vaccination process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has a massive impact on social life, the healthcare system, and also on health services research. However, the effects of the pandemic on research processes, methods, and the personal situation of researchers has not been investigated so far. Guided by the question of how research processes and methods are adapted to the challenges posed by COVID-19 and how researchers perceive the impact of the pandemic on their personal situation, an online survey of health services researchers was conducted from June to July 2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Due to communication barriers, people without natural speech who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are rarely interviewed about their healthcare needs, expectations, and experiences. This qualitative interview study aims to investigate how AAC users evaluate a new service delivery (nSD) in AAC care in Germany.
Results: We conducted 8 semi-structured qualitative interviews with 8 AAC users.
Purpose: Many care settings are characterized by collaboration between a variety of stakeholders. People without natural speech who rely on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are often strongly dependent on the involved stakeholders and collaboration among them. Since collaboration can be challenged by many barriers, this study examines the impact of a complex intervention on collaboration in AAC care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To examine interrelations between care-related burden on informal caregivers and their proxy assessments of outcomes in people without natural speech.
Design: A cross-sectional survey.
Setting: Data were collected in January 2019 from a postal survey of informal caregivers of people without natural speech who are insured by a large regional health insurance company in the German federal state of Lower Saxony.
Collaboration among health care providers is intended to dissolve boundaries between the sectors of health care systems. The implementation of adequate augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) care of people without natural speech depends highly on collaboration among multiple stakeholders such as speech and language pathologists, teachers, or physicians. This paper examines existing barriers to and facilitators of collaboration from a stakeholder perspective.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The current practice of service delivery in Germany for people with complex communication needs (CCN) who are in need of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is characterised by diverse problems, including a lack of clarity in the responsibilities of the service providers involved. To address these issues a new service delivery model has been put in place, implemented in three AAC counselling centres for patients with a particular health insurance across Germany. The implementation of a new service delivery model aims to improve individualised service delivery.
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