[Trained volunteers to support patients after hospitalization-national implications from international findings]

In Germany people over 65 years old are treated in hospital almost twice as often as younger people. Special attention needs to be paid to the transition from inpatient to outpatient care. In recent years, volunteers have been increasingly involved in the care of older patients during and after the hospitalization phase.

This article presents the results of empirical studies, which evaluated one-to-one approaches with trained volunteers to support chronically ill, multimorbid older patients at the interface between hospital and domestic care. Implications for the German care system are derived for the first time.

The results of a systematic search for randomized controlled studies, controlled studies and studies in a one-group pre-post design are presented. The identified interventions are presented, a cautious assessment of the need for care based on representative national surveys is made and the added value of the interventions is assessed against the background of the existing care structures.

In the international context, trained volunteers are active in psychosocial coordinative support (n = 2), physical cognitive activation (n = 4) and assistance with medication intake (n = 2). These interventions show short-term effects with small and medium effect sizes. Psychosocial coordinative support and physical cognitive activation are basically transferable to national circumstances.

Before a broad implementation, the approaches would first have to be adapted to national circumstances, tested for feasibility and the effectiveness must be examined in high-quality studies.