[Development of Practice Guidelines for Social Work in Medical Rehabilitation]. / Entwicklung von Praxisempfehlungen für die Soziale Arbeit in der medizinischen Rehabilitation.

PURPOSE: Social work services are a major part of the treatment spectrum in medical rehabilitation. Given new demands and differences in the practical implementation of social work interventions, there is a need for good clinical practice standards of care. Therefore, practice guidelines (PG) for social work in medical rehabilitation facilities were developed. These are intended to support decision-making processes in interventions and give other professions working in rehabilitative care insight into the range of social work services. The PG were developed in a multi-stage process involving experts from social work practice. METHODS: A national and international literature search was conducted on the current evidence on social work interventions in medical rehabilitation. In a survey of social work services in inpatient and outpatient medical rehabilitation facilities (all indications except addictive disorders, child/adolescent rehabilitation; Nmax=311), social workers were asked to provide information on current practice and their expectations towards the PG. On this basis, a preliminary version of the PG was modified and expanded in an expert workshop and evaluated in a second survey of social work services in rehabilitation facilities (Nmax=184). The results were discussed at a second workshop and on this basis the final PG version was prepared. RESULTS: The PG include information on framework conditions of social work in rehabilitation and on social diagnostics. At the center of the PG are frequent needs and problems of rehabilitation patients. These include work-related problems, social and financial problems, participation of persons with disability, and aftercare/follow-up. Each chapter provides information on needs assessment, the content and scope of suitable interventions, and additional materials and references. CONCLUSION: The PE are intended as a practical aid, based on both practical expertise and existing scientific evidence, to provide social work staff and other professional groups in rehabilitation with information on social work services and their implementation. The focus of the content reflects the expressed expectations of social services for PE.

[Implementation and Formative Evaluation of a Health Navigator Service for Health and Wellness Guests in a Health Resort]. / Implementierung und formative Evaluation eines Gesundheitslotsen zur Beratung von Gesundheitsgästen in einem Kurort.

OBJECTIVES: To develop, implement and evaluate a health navigator service (HNS) for visitors and guests in a German health resort. METHOD: Information on local health services providers was collected and included in a database. A complementary national and international literature search was conducted. Health and wellness guests were interviewed about information needs and expectations with respect to a HNS. During the implementation of the HNS, all consultations were continuously documented. In interviews, cooperation partners and stakeholders were asked to evaluate the concept and its potentials. RESULTS: The literature search showed no comparable models or studies. The database was routinely used by the health navigator. In pre-implementation interviews, health and wellness guests stressed the need for neutral and objective counseling provided by a HNS. Routine documentation showed that more than half of the guests using the HNS were older than 65 years. Questions regarding local medical, healthcare and wellness institutions were frequent in consultations. The initial line of work of the HNS was modified during the implementation toward a stronger focus on involvement in health tourism-related issues. Cooperation partners and stakeholders rated this repositioning favorably. CONCLUSIONS: The HNS concept was successfully implemented. The realignment of HNS job specifications facilitated its local establishment. An implementation manual is intended to support the transfer of the HNS concept to other health resorts and spas.

Development and initial evaluation of the usefulness of a question prompt list to promote patients' level of information about work-related medical rehabilitation: a pilot study.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to develop a question prompt list (QPL) to support patients undergoing work-related medical rehabilitation in obtaining relevant information and to explore how patients and physicians rate the QPL regarding its usefulness, practicability, and perceived (additional) effort. Methods: An initial item pool was assessed by rehabilitation patients (N = 3) in cognitive interviews, rated by physicians and other health professionals (N = 11), and then further modified. The final QPL version (16 items) was used by patients (N = 36) in medical admission interviews in an inpatient medical rehabilitation facility and then evaluated. Physicians evaluated the QPL after each interview with a study participant (N = 6; k = 39 interviews). Results: The QPL was used by 50% of patients who rated its usefulness and comprehensibility positively. Neither the need for information nor satisfaction with the information received was correlated with QPL use. The physicians' assessment showed a positive evaluation regarding the provision of information and structuring of the conversation, but also a higher perceived time expenditure. Discussion: While initial testing of the QPL in work-related medical rehabilitation as a tool to support patient-provider communication generally showed a favorable evaluation by patients using it and physicians, future research should address its validity and effectiveness.

Beyond Oncology: Question Prompt Lists in Healthcare-A Scoping Review Protocol.

Question prompt lists (QPL) are an instrument to promote patient participation in medical encounters by providing a set of questions patients can use during consultations. QPL have predominantly been examined in oncology. Less is known about their use in other contexts. Therefore, we plan to conduct a scoping review to provide an overview of the fields of healthcare in which QPL have been developed and evaluated. MEDLINE/PUBMED, PSYCINFO, PSYNDEX, WEB OF SCIENCE, and CINAHL will be systematically searched. Primary studies from different healthcare contexts that address the following participants/target groups will be included: persons with an acute, chronic, or recurring health condition other than cancer; healthy persons in non-oncological primary preventive measures. There will be no restrictions in terms of study design, sample size, or outcomes. However, only published studies will be included. Studies that were published in English and German between 1990 and 2019 will be examined. Two independent reviewers will apply defined inclusion/exclusion criteria and determine study eligibility in the review process guided by the PRISMA statement.

Addressing Work-Related Issues in Medical Rehabilitation: Revision of an Online Information Tool for Healthcare Professionals.

Background. Medical rehabilitation increasingly considers occupational issues as determinants of health and work ability. Information on work-related rehabilitation concepts should therefore be made available to healthcare professionals. Objective. To revise a website providing healthcare professionals in medical rehabilitation facilities with information on work-related concepts in terms of updating existing information and including new topics, based on recommendations from implementation research. Method. The modification process included a questionnaire survey of medical rehabilitation centers (n = 28); two workshops with experts from rehabilitation centers, health payers, and research institutions (n = 14); the selection of new topics and revision of existing text modules based on expert consensus; and an update of good practice descriptions of work-related measures. Results. Health payers' requirements, workplace descriptions, and practical implementation aids were added as new topics. The database of good practice examples was extended to 63 descriptions. Information on introductory concepts was rewritten and supplemented by current data. Diagnostic tools were updated by including additional assessments. Conclusions. Recommendations from implementation research such as assessing user needs and including expert knowledge may serve as a useful starting point for the dissemination of information on work-related medical rehabilitation into practice. Web-based information tools such as the website presented here can be quickly adapted to current evidence and changes in medicolegal regulations.

Current state of vocationally oriented medical rehabilitation--a German perspective.

The aim of this paper is to outline a current trend in inpatient medical rehabilitation in Germany, i.e. vocationally oriented medical rehabilitation (VOMR). Since employment-related demands and challenges pose a potential source of strain regarding employees' health and work ability, rehabilitative treatment in Germany is increasingly geared towards including work-related issues in diagnostics and therapy. To date, German rehabilitation research and practice have focussed primarily on the development of screening instruments for identifying vocational problems, interface management and inter-sectoral cooperation and the specification and standardisation of vocationally oriented interventions and programmes (e.g. work hardening, group interventions). Further developments in VOMR should examine the varying needs of patients for work-related interventions as well as the neglect of specific subgroups of patients (e.g. long-term unemployed) and topics (e.g. interference between work and other life domains).