[Experts' uncertainties in decisions on the indication for rehabilitation as part of the assessment of long-term care needs: Results of semi-structured interview]. / Entscheidungsunsicherheiten bei der zweistufigen Prüfung einer Rehabilitationsindikation im Rahmen der Pflegebegutachtung ­ Ergebnisse leitfadengestützter Interviews.

OBJECTIVE: As part of assessment of long-term care needs, Medical Services of the compulsory German Health Insurance have to decide whether medical rehabilitation is indicated. The aim of this study was to identify uncertainties and associated factors while deciding whether rehabilitation was indicated in this standardized review process. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of twelve nursing experts and six physician experts from six different Medical Services. In the interviews of the two professional groups, thinking aloud and problem-centered methods were used. They were subjected to a cognitive pretest prior to data collection. All interviews were conducted over telephone in May 2021, digitally recorded and transcribed thereafter. They were analyzed based on the method of structuring qualitative content analysis using the MAXQDA software. RESULTS: Uncertainties in decision-making can arise both from case-related characteristics and case-independent contextual factors. Nursing experts associated uncertainties in assessing the criteria of rehabilitation indication primarily with certain diseases (especially dementia or mental illnesses), multimorbidity, an unclear illness and ambulatory care situation, as well as a negative rehabilitation-related attitude of the persons being assessed. The physician experts, who based their decisions on available documentation in the case files, described uncertainties, particularly due to insufficient information relevant to the decision (e. g., on diagnostics, course of disease and treatment, weighting of existing limitations) in the nursing experts' assessments. Across all criteria, the experts' own professional or private rehabilitation experience and their understanding of the role of rehabilitation before and during the need for long-term care, as well as aspects of communication practice and the professional exchange between the nursing and the physician experts also influenced the overall decision-making process. CONCLUSION: The identification of uncertainties in experts' decision-making process and associated factors enables the development of strategies to strengthen specifically the certainty of experts' decision-making and thus may contribute to the promotion of a needs-based rehabilitation access via long-term care assessment.

[Factors Influencing the Access to and Utilization of Medical Rehabilitation Services Recommended after Care Assessment - Results of Qualitative Interviews with Professionals Involved in the Decision Process]. / Einflussfaktoren auf Beantragung und Inanspruchnahme empfohlener Rehabilitationsleistungen nach einer Pflegebegutachtung ­ Ergebnisse qualitativer Interviews mit professionellen Akteur/innen.

PURPOSE: In Germany, persons in need of care can receive a rehabilitation recommendation from the medical service of the health insurance companies. Approximately half of these recommendations lead to applications and every fourth recommendation to actual utilisation of medical rehabilitation. Little is known about the supporting factors for and barriers to this special access to medical rehabilitation for persons in need of care. To explore the influencing factors - both personal and procedural - from the perspectives of involved professionals. METHODS: Interviews regarding on the access to medical rehabilitation were conducted with expert raters from the medical service of the German statutory health insurance system and with employees in long-term care and in health insurance. For data analysis systematic text condensation was used. RESULTS: Based on 53 interviews with 56 involved professionals, individual- and process-related influencing factors were identified. In addition to sociodemographic, health-related, personal and financial characteristics, rehabilitation-related attitudes and a strong attachment to the home environment seem to be particularly relevant. Furthermore, service-related (e. g. expectations and wishes) and process-related (e. g. care structures) characteristics also seem to have an impact. The importance of social support from relatives was emphasized. CONCLUSIONS: The results point to potential supporting factors and barriers in the access to rehabilitation by means of care assessment. They should be considered for possible improvements of the assessment and approval procedures as well as the necessary early and sufficient councelling of the concerned persons and their relatives.

A web-based peer-modeling intervention aimed at lifestyle changes in patients with coronary heart disease and chronic back pain: sequential controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Traditional secondary prevention programs often fail to produce sustainable behavioral changes in everyday life. Peer-modeling interventions and integration of peer experiences in health education are a promising way to improve long-term effects in behavior modification. However, effects of peer support modeling on behavioral change have not been evaluated yet. Therefore, we implemented and evaluated a website featuring patient narratives about successful lifestyle changes. OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to examine the effects of using Web-based patient narratives about successful lifestyle change on improvements in physical activity and eating behavior for patients with coronary heart disease and chronic back pain 3 months after participation in a rehabilitation program. METHODS: The lebensstil-aendern ("lifestyle-change") website is a nonrestricted, no-cost, German language website that provides more than 1000 video, audio, and text clips from interviews with people with coronary heart disease and chronic back pain. To test efficacy, we conducted a sequential controlled trial and recruited patients with coronary heart disease and chronic back pain from 7 inpatient rehabilitation centers in Germany. The intervention group attended a presentation on the website; the control group did not. Physical activity and eating behavior were assessed by questionnaire during the rehabilitation program and 12 weeks later. Analyses were conducted based on an intention-to-treat and an as-treated protocol. RESULTS: A total of 699 patients were enrolled and 571 cases were included in the analyses (control: n=313, intervention: n=258; female: 51.1%, 292/571; age: mean 53.2, SD 8.6 years; chronic back pain: 62.5%, 357/571). Website usage in the intervention group was 46.1% (119/258). In total, 141 trial participants used the website. Independent t tests based on the intention-to-treat protocol only demonstrated nonsignificant trends in behavioral change related to physical activity and eating behavior. Multivariate regression analyses confirmed belonging to the intervention group was an independent predictor of self-reported improvements in physical activity regularity (ß=.09, P=.03) and using less fat for cooking (ß=.09, P=.04). In independent t tests based on the as-treated protocol, website use was associated with higher self-reported improvements in integrating physical activity into daily routine (d=0.22, P=.02), in physical activity regularity (d=0.23, P=.02), and in using less fat for cooking (d=0.21, P=.03). Multivariate regression analyses revealed that using the website at least 3 times was the only factor associated with improved lifestyle behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Usage of the lebensstil-aendern website corresponds to more positive lifestyle changes. However, as-treated analyses do not allow for differentiating between causal effects and selection bias. Despite these limitations, the trial indicates that more than occasional website usage is necessary to reach dose-response efficacy. Therefore, future studies should concentrate on strategies to improve adherence to Web-based interventions and to encourage more frequent usage of these programs.

Is strain due to household and family work associated with a subjective need for rehabilitation among employees? A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The gender-specific unequal distribution of paid employment and unpaid household and family work may entail specific implications for women's and men's health and work ability. Medical rehabilitation is provided to maintain or restore work ability and to prevent disability pensioning. However, more than half of the employees who receive disability pension have not utilized any pre-retirement rehabilitation services. The study was conducted to examine associations between strain due to unpaid work and the subjective need for rehabilitation among employees with an increased risk of early retirement due to adverse health conditions. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from the "Third German Sociomedical Panel of Employees" (GSPE-III) were analysed. The sample comprises 1,908 German employees aged between 42 and 56 years. Logistic regression analyses were conducted separately for women and men to explore the association between the strain level and the subjective need for rehabilitation. RESULTS: Overall, women reported a higher strain level compared to men. Strain due to housework was not associated with the subjective need for rehabilitation in men and women. However, after adjustment for socio-demographic, work- and health-related characteristics the odds for a subjective need for rehabilitation were three times higher for women (OR=2.9, p <0.001) and two times higher for men (OR=2.0, p=0.027) with a high level of strain due to family work compared to persons with a low strain level. DISCUSSION: This study analysed the strain of unpaid work in the context of the utilization of medical rehabilitation services. Although women report a gender-specific higher strain due to unpaid work, a high strain level due to family work seems to be an additional and independent factor influencing the subjective need for rehabilitation for both genders equally. CONCLUSION: To prevent disability pensioning, more consideration should be given to the strain factors associated with unpaid family work when designing and organising interventions to promote access to medical rehabilitation services.

Pushing occupational rehabilitation - implementation of a therapy diary in the outpatient aftercare of psychosomatic rehabilitation may promote the occupational reintegration process: a survey of therapists and patients.

BACKGROUND: Treatment results achieved after fulfilling an inpatient psychosomatic rehabilitation are often not permanent. Additional participation in outpatient rehabilitation aftercare may reduce the risk of recurrent disorders and support a successful reentry to working life. A therapy diary should accompany the aftercare and bring about the self-reflection process of psychosomatic rehabilitates, which could reduce recurrent disease progressions and support the recovery process as a whole. The study focuses on the evaluation of the effectiveness and implementation potentialities of a therapy diary in outpatient rehabilitation aftercare. METHODS: In a qualitative study, seven therapists for outpatient rehabilitation aftercare in Central Germany and eleven outpatient psychosomatic rehabilitation patients were interrogated using partially standardized, guideline-based expert interviews. The data evaluation is based on the Qualitative Content Analysis according to Mayring. RESULTS: The results show that an accompanying use of a therapy diary during the outpatient rehabilitation aftercare enables an intense commitment through own thoughts and feelings. By writing down thoughts, emotions, dysfunctional behaviors in problematic situations, great successes are experienced. Through this initiated self-reflection process, the rehabilitant gains a better knowledge of one's behavior in dealing with oneself and the environment and thereby, whenever necessary, learns to create new ways of acting. CONCLUSIONS: The voluntary use of the therapy diary in the outpatient rehabilitation aftercare could assist the therapy process and henceforward the recovery of the rehabilitants, and also increase the prospect of successful occupational rehabilitation.

Current approaches to the integration of sex- and gender-specific medicine in teaching: a qualitative expert survey.

Aim: Although criteria and recommendations for the successful integration of sex- and gender-sensitive aspects in medical teaching have already been published, only a few medical faculties in Germany have conducted the systematic integration of sex- and gender-sensitive medicine. The aim of this expert survey, therefore, was to describe the current approaches to the integration of sex- and gender-sensitive medicine in teaching in the sense of Good Practice. Method: Between April and June 2018, guided interviews were conducted with nine experts in the field of sex- and gender-sensitive medicine. Each of the experts had had experience of implementing sex- and gender-sensitive medicine at their universities. The expert interviews were then evaluated by means of quality content analysis, and frequency analyses were carried out. Results: Aspects of sex- and gender-sensitive medicine were integrated both longitudinally and selectively into the compulsory curriculum or elective fields of various medical, health and nursing science courses. In the opinion of the experts, medical studies should promote the students' gender sensitivity and in particular impart knowledge about the psychosocial and biological aspects of sex- and gender-related differences and sex- and gender-sensitive communication. For the methodological implementation of the integrated contents, didactic resources were partly adapted or developed. The players in the implementation process were confronted with various challenges, e.g. the involvement of the lecturers, the perception of sex- and gender-sensitive medicine as a women's theme as well as ensuring the sustainable integration of sex- and gender-sensitive medicine, which is also structurally anchored in the faculty. Aspects of the curricular integration (e.g. evidence-basing, relevance in examinations) and the structural anchoring (e.g. central organization, staff availability) were mentioned i.a. as being crucial for success. A combination of top-down and bottom-up processes, e.g. by involving the faculty management but also by supporting student initiatives, was described as conducive to success. Conclusion: The depicted approaches to the integration of sex- and gender-sensitive teaching contents give insight as to how sex- and gender-sensitive medicine can be integrated into the curricula. The interviews with the experts point to current themes related to sex- and gender-sensitive medicine and didactic resources. Moreover, it becomes clear which challenges are to be expected for the integration of sex- and gender-sensitive medicine in teaching and how these can be addressed. Particularly the involvement of the faculty's lecturers but also the sustainable integration and continual quality assurance of sex- and gender-sensitive contents present challenges of a crucial nature.

In-depth statistical analysis of the use of a website providing patients' narratives on lifestyle change when living with chronic back pain or coronary heart disease.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the use of lebensstil-aendern.de ("lifestyle change"), a website providing peer narratives of experiences with successful lifestyle change, and to analyze whether peer model characteristics, clip content, and media type have an influence on the number of visitors, dwell time, and exit rates. METHODS: An in-depth statistical analysis of website use with multilevel regression analyses. RESULTS: In two years, lebensstil-aendern.de attracted 12,844 visitors. The in-depth statistical analysis of usage rates demonstrated that audio clips were less popular than video or text-only clips, longer clips attracted more visitors, and clips by younger and female interviewees were preferred. User preferences for clip content categories differed between heart and back pain patients. Clips about stress management drew the smallest numbers of visitors in both indication modules. CONCLUSIONS: Patients are interested in the experiences of others. Because the quality of information for user-generated content is generally low, healthcare providers should include quality-assured patient narratives in their interventions. User preferences for content, medium, and peer characteristics need to be taken into account. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: If healthcare providers decide to include patient experiences in their websites, they should plan their intervention according to the different needs and preferences of users.