[Interdisciplinary cooperation in primary care of elderly patients--results of results with consequences for general...

In the networking of health care provision for the elderly the inclusion of the general practitioner is considered to be lacking, although the "Gesundheitsreformgesetz" (GRG) demands that the GP should act as a coordinator (Section 73 of German social welfare legislation). The views of GPs on already existing cooperation and on barriers to such cooperation in a selected district of Hamburg were examined by means of guided interviews. With the help of the agents in the region the building blocks for promoting cooperation were then developed in the district. A significant precondition for this was to make sure that the available local services on offer in respect of health promotion and health care provision are utilised by means of a data bank and a directory. On this basis the potential cooperation partners were identified and a local work circle comprising representatives of the most important health and social services was set up. From this a quality circle which was interdisciplinary and also consisted of members from all relevant fields was established, together with a working group on the development of a community based advice centre for the elderly.