Prof. Dr. Sascha Köpke

Stefanie Steguweit, M.A. 

Of the approximately 5.7 million people in Germany who require care, 9 out of 10 are cared for at home by family members and close associates. Family members and loved ones who provide care rely on immediately available care services in emergency situations, such as their own hospitalization. This requires care structures that enable local, low-threshold access to nursing support. Current care structures are barely able to meet an acute need for nursing care. 

The project “Neighborhood-Based Emergency Care in Northern Wuppertal” therefore aims to develop a care structure that is close to home and easily accessible through preventive neighborhood-based work. The resources already available in the neighborhood—inpatient and outpatient long-term care, senior housing, and the neighborhood community center—form the basis for preventive neighborhood-based work, which specifically addresses the needs of people with dementia.   

The overarching goal of the community-based work is to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions of people in need of care when gaps in care arise and, instead, to transition them into care structures —such as emergency housing or the provision of a night watch—. The Institute for Nursing Science is responsible for the scientific monitoring and evaluation of the project.