[Guidelines for integrated management of demented patients in nursing homes for the elderly]

Currently, 30% and above of residents of geriatric care centers are suffering from dementia, most of them in an advanced stage of disease. In 1987, the "Landschaftsverband Rheinland" introduced the so-called "Zuschlagsverfahren" (i.e., additional nursing fees) to promote an integrative care concept for demented people in these institutions. This procedure includes expert rating of the residents, "screening" of the quality of care and teaching of the institutional staff in the field of gerontopsychiatry. The introduced guidelines for integrated care of demented residents of geriatric care centers emerged from practical work in and for such institutions. The guidelines emphasize the inmate-oriented care and housing concept, focusing on the individual biography and on qualified personnel management. An organizational structure is needed that supports the revised care and housing concept.