BackgroundInsufficient communication and coordination is one of the most problematic issues in German health care delivery leading to detrimental effects on health care outcomes. As a consequence interprofessional continuing education (CIPE) is gathering momentum in German health policy and health care practice aiming to enhance service quality and patient safety. Nevertheless, there is limited evidence on the course of implementation and the perceived effectiveness/acceptance of CIPE in German health care. This paper describes the objectives and formal characteristics of CIPE trainings and maps important determinants influencing the success of CIPE implementation from the perspective of providers offering CIPE trainings for German health care professionals.MethodsForty-nine training institutions offering CIPE for health care professionals were identified by a structured web search including the websites of German medical education associations and public/private training institutions. Directors and managers of the identified institutions were invited to participate in a semi-structured interview. The interview guideline was developed using the SPSS method by Helferich and colleges. Interviews were analyzed using the summarizing content analysis developed by Mayring resulting in a paradigm that contextualizes hindering factors regarding the implementation of CIPE in the German health care system.ResultsOverall, 19 of the identified institutions agreed to participate with one director/manager per institution resulting in a response rate of almost 38.8%. The included institutions offer n = 85 CIPE trainings for health care professionals. Trainings offered mainly address the enhancement of domain, social and personal competencies of the participating health care professionals and follow three main objectives comprising better care of severely ill patients, improvement of patient safety by sustained risk management as well as a more patient centered care. Implementation of CIPE in Germany is influenced by various hindering factors mostly coming from systemic (missing incentives), behavioral (hierarchy problems) and methodological (limited quality assurance) factors.ConclusionCIPE is an evolving concept in the German health care system. There are various difficulties that impede a successful implementation of CIPE and might be mitigated by specific health policy interventions such as mandatory CIPE participation of health care professionals and comprehensive pre-license interprofessional education.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1472-6920-14-227) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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There was a higher prevalence of dementia in the very old insured without German citizenship compared to those with German citizenship, especially in men. Non-Germans showed lower uptake of nursing home care compared to Germans. Additionally, Germans had slightly higher nursing care entitlements. It should be investigated further how much of the difference is due to underdiagnosis, cultural differences, or lack of adequate diagnostic work-up.

Zusammenfassung. Hintergrund: Zwischen 1957 und 1962 wurden in Deutschland ca. 5000 sogenannte Contergan-Kinder geboren, deren Mütter während der Schwangerschaft das Beruhigungs- und Schlafmittel Contergan genommen hatten. Fragestellung: Das Ziel der Studie war es, die pflegerische Versorgung, ungedeckte Bedarfe und finanzielle Eigenleistungen vor dem Hintergrund der Conterganschädigung mit ihren spezifischen Ausprägungen bei einzelnen Betroffenen sowie eventuelle zukünftige Herausforderungen zu erheben. Methoden: Es wurde eine Befragung mittels Fragebogen zu der pflegerischen Versorgung, den Bedürfnissen und vorliegenden Pflegestufen durchgeführt. Außerdem gab es eine orthopädische und psychische Untersuchung der Betroffenen hinsichtlich ihrer körperlichen Behinderungen und Beeinträchtigungen sowie psychischer Störungen. Ergebnisse: Die Contergangeschädigten teilen sich bezüglich ihrer pflegerischen Bedürfnisse in zwei Gruppen: Personen mit und ohne Beeinträchtigungen der Extremitäten. Das Vorhandensein des pflegerischen Bedarfes und die dafür aufgewendeten privaten Mittel verlaufen entlang dieser Grenze. Viele der Betroffenen werden nur von ihrem sozialen Umfeld pflegerisch betreut, was eine eigene Problematik darstellt, da das Umfeld der Betroffenen mitaltert und sie teilweise sogar noch von ihren Eltern versorgt werden. Schlussfolgerungen: Die Prävalenz für die Pflege bei Contergangeschädigten ist höher als in der deutschen Allgemeinbevölkerung derselben Altersgruppe, professionelle Pflegedienstleister sind unterrepräsentiert. Diese sollten häufiger in Anspruch genommen werden und dem spezifischen Bedarf der Betroffenen gerecht werden.