Quality of care and its impact on quality of life for care-dependent persons with dementia in shared-housing arrangements: results of the Berlin WGQual-study.

ABSTRACT

AIM: The aim of study was to evaluate setting-specific quality indicators (QIs) for shared-housing arrangements (SHA) regarding effects of a guided quality development process on resident's quality of life (QoL). BACKGROUND: SHA are a specific German kind of small-scale living facilities for care-dependent persons with dementia. SHA are disconnected from residential facilities and served by community care services. METHOD: In a longitudinal cluster-randomised design 104 residents of 34 SHA were surveyed for 1 year; the intervention group took part in a quality development process. QIs, physical and psychological health outcomes including QoL were surveyed. RESULTS: During the 1 year follow-up, analyses show a positive trend regarding QI-outcomes in the intervention group, but no statistically significant differences could be proved regarding QoL. CONCLUSIONS: Setting-sensitive QIs are absolutely essential to measure quality of care in multi-professional settings like SHA. Further research as well as longer study intervals is essential.