[Support for General Practitioners in the Care of Patients with Complex Needs: A Questionnaire Survey of General...

Because of demographic changes, new models of care are important for supporting general practitioners in the care of patients with complex needs. This study addresses the question of the type of support that is requested by general practitioners working in Berlin.

All general practitioners working in Berlin (n=2354) were asked between August and September 2018 to return a questionnaire by post which has been developed for this study. Questions addressed support needs as well as support models within the practice (delegation, substitution) and outside the practice (social worker, navigator, community care points). Data were analysed descriptively and by exploratory multivariate analysis to show the influence of practice and doctor characteristics on the preference of support models (age, gender, location of the practice, type of practice, working hours).

A total of 557 questionnaires (response rate 23.7%) were included in the analysis. Need for support was seen particularly for administrative, coordinative and organisational tasks and for advice on social issues. The majority of the study participants approved delegation and substitution. In their view, it was conceivable to get support from professionals or institutions outside their practice, such as mobile care services, community care points, social workers or navigators. Particularly younger and female doctors working in group practices were open for cooperative care models integrating other health professions.

There is unused potential for delegation and cooperation within existing structures. Further research should investigate the acceptance and feasibility of different support models.