[National Action Plan Health Literacy: Need, Objective and Content]. / Der Nationale Aktionsplan Gesundheitskompetenz ­ Notwendigkeit, Ziel und Inhalt.

In recent years, studies on health literacy of the population have been conducted in many countries. Most of them show that health literacy levels are worse than expected and that large parts of the population have low health literacy levels. National strategies and action plans to promote health literacy have been developed in many countries to address these results. Following these examples, a National Action Plan on Health Literacy was also developed for Germany. A panel of 15 experts was involved in the 2-year development process. Based on an analysis of available literature on health literacy and existing action plans, the concept, objectives and priorities of the action plan were defined, and recommendations were developed. The National Action Plan on Health Literacy formulates recommendations in the fields of living environments, the healthcare system, chronic illness, and research.

[Quality prevention and health promotion programming in long-term care: the QualiPEP Project]. / Qualitätsorientierte Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung in Einrichtungen der Pflege: Das Projekt QualiPEP.

With the demographic shift, the number of persons in need of long-term care is continuing to grow, as is the need for nursing care staff and specialists. Stress levels within the long-term care sector are very high. Multiple legislative reforms have given rise to societal and political awareness of the resulting challenges: Preventive Health Care Act (2015), First and Second Acts and Third Bill to Strengthen Long-term Care (2015-17), Federal Participation Act (2017), and the Bill to Strengthen Nursing Care Staff (2019).To meet these challenges, in May 2017 the four-year project quality-oriented prevention and health promotion in institutions for persons with disabilities and of long-term care (QualiPEP) was founded. It is administered by the AOK-Bundesverband and promoted by the federal health ministry. The project addresses part- and full-stationary residential long-term care settings and residential home settings for persons with disabilities. It pursues three goals: 1. Developing a quality concept to improve effectiveness and sustainability of prevention and health-promotion programming; 2. Strengthening the health literacy of home residents, employees and organizations (therefore, a framework concept will be developed); 3. Expanding upon existing workplace health-promotion measures for employees. The ultimate impact objective is to increase health-related quality of life for the target groups.The process of developing quality indicators begins with a needs assessment, followed by phases of conceptualization, implementation, evaluation and adaptation. The present article illustrates QualiPEP project objectives with a specific focus on long-term care facilities and further describes the project's research design and planned execution.

In-vivo-validation of a cardiovascular risk prediction tool: the arriba-pro study.

BACKGROUND: Calculation of individual risk is the cornerstone of effective cardiovascular prevention. arriba is a software to estimate the individual risk to suffer a cardiovascular event in 10 years. Prognosis and the absolute effects of pharmacological and lifestyle interventions help the patient make a well-informed decision. The risk calculation algorithm currently used in arriba is based on the Framingham risk algorithm calibrated to the German setting. The objective of this study is to evaluate and adapt the algorithm for the target population in primary care in Germany. METHODS/DESIGN: arriba-pro will be conducted within the primary care scheme provided by a large health care insurer in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Patients who are counseled with arriba by their general practitioners (GPs) will be included in the arriba-pro cohort. Exposure data from the consultation with arriba such as demographic data and risk factors will be recorded automatically by the practice software and transferred to the study centre. Information on relevant prescription drugs (effect modifiers) and cardiovascular events (outcomes) will be derived from administrative sources. DISCUSSION: The study is unique in simulating a therapy naïve cohort, matching exactly research and application setting, using a robust administrative data base, and, finally, including patients with known cardiovascular disease who have been excluded from previous studies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study is registered with Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien (DRKS00004633).

Future relevance of genetic testing: a systematic horizon scanning analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify research and development on genetic testing to find out if research addresses important disease areas, how far it is from potential clinical use, and what consequences might arise for the prioritization of health technology assessment (HTA) activities. Also a horizon scanning methodology developed in Germany is demonstrated. METHODS: A systematic search on genetic testing was conducted in an innovation database (ZIM database). Based on a daily monitoring of literature and Internet sources, reports from 2003 up to 2005 were classified related to the type of innovation, the addressed disease categories, and the developmental phase of the technology. More detailed analyses for the most frequently addressed groups of diseases were conducted. RESULTS: From 239 relevant reports, 41 percent referred to neoplasms; 10 percent to diseases of the cardiovascular system; 9 percent to diseases of the nervous system; 7 percent to mental and behavioral disorders; and 5 percent to endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases. A total of 69 percent of research is situated in basic preclinical research, 22 percent in clinical/experimental research, and 6 percent are genetic tests being used. Diagnostic applications were most frequently reported (28 percent), followed by therapeutic prediction (22 percent), preventive prediction (18 percent), pharmacogenetics (16 percent), and screening (16 percent). CONCLUSIONS: Widespread diseases are frequently addressed in research. HTA on genetic testing might focus on innovations addressing neoplastic diseases (in particular breast, colon, and prostate cancers) and pharmacogenetic applications for therapeutic prediction. The horizon scanning approach seems useful in the early steps of HTA processes to identify emerging new technologies that might have significant impact on future health care.