RightTimePlaceCare
Project overview
Given the increasing number of people with dementia, healthcare services throughout Europe must be prepared to deliver high quality and cost-effective long-term care.
At a time of significant financial constraint across Europe, the question of how best to care for people with dementia is of increasing concern. Although institutional long-term care facilities have long formed an important component of care in many countries, current policy guidance is generally focused on reducing the growth of institutional care and on enhancing the provision of home and community services. To date, however, there is considerable variation in the extent to which different countries have achieved this goal.
Currently, clinical research data on people with dementia and their informal caregivers are not sufficient to develop best practice strategies for long-term care. The RightTimePlaceCare project aims were to develop such recommendations for transition from formal home care to institutional long-term nursing care facilities. The RightTimePlaceCare Consortium consists of a multidisciplinary group of researchers (nursing scientists, geriatricians, old age psychiatrists, psychologists, economists, biostatisticians) from eight European countries. The RightTimePlaceCare project comprised six Work Packages (WPs), see Figure 1.
Figure 1: Flow of the RightTimePlaceCare project.
WP1 (leader: DE) aimed at coordinating and managing the project.
WP2 (leader: SE) described and analysed the European health, social care and welfare systems, advocacy and informal caregiver support systems for people with dementia and their informal caregivers, and the intersectorial communication using literature review, expert interviews and focus groups.
WP3 (leader: NL) comprised a survey which a) assesses the factors influencing the institutionalisation of people with dementia and b) investigates the living conditions of people with dementia and their informal caregivers who receive long-term formal professional home care and institutional long-term care.
The related economic impact was investigated in WP4 (leader: DE). The methods used were personal interviews with people with dementia and their informal caregivers (and formal caregivers in institutional long-term care), and record data extraction.
WP5 (leaders: ES, EE, UK) aims at generating best practice strategies for intersectorial arrangement needed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of integrated health care in European dementia care systems, and recommendations for best practice models or interventions in institutional long-term care facilities. Data from the other WPs were interpreted, using the Balance of Care approach.
WP6 (leader: DE) aims at delivering the knowledge and best practice strategies effectively to politicians and other decision-makers in dementia care and to ensure a maximum general dissemination of the results.
The project period lasted from January 2010 to September 2013 (45 months).
RightTimePlaceCare Consortium
RightTimePlaceCare was coordinated by the University of Witten/Herdecke, Faculty of Health, School of Nursing Science, Prof. Dr. phil. Gabriele Meyer (Email: [email protected]).
• University of Witten/Herdecke (DE): Gabriele Meyer Dr. phil., RN, professor; Astrid Stephan MScN, RN; Anna Renom Guiteras, geriatrician; Dirk Sauerland Dr. rer. pol., professor; Dr. rer. pol. Ansgar Wübker; Patrick Bremer, Dipl. oec.
• Maastricht University (NL): Jan P.H. Hamers, PhD, RN, professor; Basema Afram, MSc; Hanneke C. Beerens, MSc, RN; Michel H.C. Bleijlevens, PhD, PT; Hilde Verbeek, PhD; Sandra M.G. Zwakhalen, PhD, RN; Dirk Ruwaard, PhD, MD, professor; Ton Ambergen, PhD.
• Lund University (SE): Ingalill Rahm Hallberg, professor; Ulla Melin Emilsson, professor; Staffan Karlsson, PhD; Christina Bokberg, MSc; Connie Lethin, MSc.
• University of Manchester (UK): David Challis, professor; Caroline Sutcliffe MSc; Dr David Jolley; Sue Tucker, MSc, RN; Dr Ian Bowns; Brenda Roe, professor; Alistair Burns, professor.
• University of Turku (FI): Helena Leino-Kilpi, PhD, RN, professor; Jaana Koskenniemi, MNSc, RN, researcher; Riitta Suhonen, PhD, RN, professor; Matti Viitanen, MD, PhD, professor; Seija Arve, PhD, RN, docent; Minna Stolt, PhD, podiatrist; Maija Hupli, PhD, RN.
• University of Tartu (EE): Kai Saks, MD, PhD, professor; Ene-Margit Tiit, PhD, professor; Jelena Leibur, MD, MBA; Katrin Raamat, MA; Angelika Armolik, MA; Teija Tuula Marjatta Toivari, MA, RN.
• Fundació Privada Clinic per la Recerca Biomedica, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona (ES): Adelaida Zabalegui PhD, RN (WP 5 leader); Montserrat Navarro PhD, RN; Esther Cabrera PhD, RN (Tecnocampus Mataró), Ester Risco MNSc, RN; Carme Alvira MScN, RN; Marta Farre MScN, RN; Susana Miguel MScN, RN.
• Gerontôpole, University of Toulouse (FR): Dr. Maria Soto; Agathe Milhet; Dr. Sandrine Sourdet; Sophie Gillette; Bruno Vellas, professor.
Publications
(until 3/2014)
Verbeek H, Meyer G, Leino-Kilpi H, Zabalegui A, Hallberg IR, Saks K, Soto ME,Challis D, Sauerland D, Hamers JP; RightTimePlaceCare Consortium. A European study investigating patterns of transition from home care towards institutional dementia care: the protocol of a RightTimePlaceCare study. BMC Public Health 2012; 12: 68
Afram B, Stephan A, Verbeek H, Bleijlevens MH, Suhonen R, Sutcliffe C, Raamat K, Cabrera E, Soto ME, Hallberg IR, Meyer G, Hamers JP; RightTimePlaceCare Consortium. Reasons for Institutionalization of People with Dementia: Informal Caregiver Reports From 8 European Countries. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2013 Nov 12. doi:pii: S1525-8610(13)00548-3. 10.1016/j.jamda.2013.09.012. [Epub ahead of print]
Hallberg IR, Leino-Kilpi H, Meyer G, Raamat K, Soto Martin M, Sutcliffe C, Zabalegui A: Dementia care in eight European Countries: Developing a mapping system to explore. J Nurs Scholarsh 2013 Sep 11. doi: 10.1111/jnu.12046. [Epub ahead of print]
Beerens HC, Sutcliffe C, Renom-Guiteras A, Soto ME, Suhonen R, Zabalegui A, Bökberg C, Saks K, Hamers JP; on behalf of the RightTimePlaceCare Consortium. Quality of Life of and Quality of Care for People with Dementia Receiving Long Term Institutional Care or Professional Home Care: The European RightTimePlaceCare Study. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2013 Nov 9. doi:pii: S1525-8610(13)00546-X. 10.1016/j.jamda.2013.09.010. [Epub ahead of print]
Stephan A, Mayer H, Renom Guiteras A, Meyer G: Validity, reliability and feasibility of the German version of the Caregiver Reaction Assessment scale (G-CRA): a validation study. Intern Psychogeriatr 2013; 25: 1621-1628