Does an interdisciplinary network improve dementia care? Results from the IDemUck-study.

Background: Most persons with dementia live at home and are treated in the primary care. However, the ambulatory health care system in Germany contains a lot of "interface problems" and is not optimized for the future challenges. Innovative concepts like regional networks in dementia care exist on a project level and need to be tested for efficacy to encourage implementation.

Effect of the delegation of GP-home visits on the development of the number of patients in an ambulatory healthcare centre in Germany.

Background: The AGnES-concept (AGnES: GP-supporting, community-based, e-health-assisted, systemic intervention) was developed to support general practitioners (GPs) in undersupplied regions. The project aims to delegate GP-home visits to qualified AGnES-practice assistants, to increase the number of patients for whom medical care can be provided.This paper focuses on the effect of delegating GP-home visits on the total number of patients treated.

The effectiveness of interventions in workplace health promotion as to maintain the working capacity of health care personal.

Background: The increasing proportion of elderly people with respective care requirements and within the total population stands against aging personnel and staff reduction in the field of health care where employees are exposed to high load factors. Health promotion interventions may be a possibility to improve work situations and behavior.

Methods: A systematic literature search is conducted in 32 databases limited to English and German publications since 1990.

Delegation of GP-home visits to qualified practice assistants: assessment of economic effects in an ambulatory healthcare centre.

Background: Against the background of a decreasing number of general practitioners (GPs) in rural regions in Germany, the AGnES-concept (AGnES = GP-supporting, community-based, e-health-assisted, systemic intervention) supports the delegation of regular GP-home visits to qualified practice assistants. The concept was implemented and evaluated in different model projects in Germany. To explore the economic effects of this concept, the development of the number of home visits in an ambulatory healthcare centre was analysed and compared with the number of home visits in the surrounding county.

AGnES: supporting general practitioners with qualified medical practice personnel: model project evaluation regarding quality and acceptance.

Background: The German AGnES (community-based, e-health-assisted systemic support for primary care) project allows general practitioners (GPs) to delegate certain elements of medical care, including house calls, to qualified AGnES employees and thereby provide primary care to a larger number of patients. AGnES projects of various types have been carried out in a number of German federal states from 2005 onward. In this article, an evaluation of the AGnES projects to date is presented.

GP-support by means of AGnES-practice assistants and the use of telecare devices in a sparsely populated region in Northern Germany--proof of concept.

Background: In many rural regions in Germany, the proportion of the elderly population increases rapidly. Simultaneously, about one-third of the presently active GPs will retire until 2010. Often it is difficult to find successors for vacant GP-practices.