12.2017: Hans Böckler Foundation study “Digitalization in hospitals” published

With the title “Digitalization in Hospitals. More Technology – Better Work”, the Hans Böckler Foundation has presented an empirical study on the dissemination and use of digital technologies in German hospitals (Volume 364 of the Hans Böckler Foundation’s Study series). The study provides insight into the conditions of the implementation of digital technologies for nursing in hospitals and shows effects of digitalization from the perspective of employees in the. The study is available at: https://www.boeckler.de/pdf/p_study_hbs_364.pdf

BMG study on digital solutions in care published

On behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG), a consortium consisting of Roland Berger GmbH (RB), the Nursing Faculty of the Philosophical-Theological University of Vallendar (PTHV) and the German Institute for Applied Nursing Research (DIP), which has a second location at the PTHV, has conducted a study on information and communication technologies (ICT) in the nursing sector. (DIP), which maintains a second location at the PTHV, conducted a study on information and communication technologies (ICT) in the nursing sector, or “ePflege” for short. The focus was on recording the current situation in the use and development of digital ICT offerings in care. It also focused on identifying current and future needs and analyzing existing barriers to the use and dissemination of digital solutions in care. A number of concrete proposals for action were derived from the study’s comprehensive data basis.

The results of the ePflege study are based on an online survey of 63 relevant players in the care sector, an analysis of 217 projects in which ICT approaches related to care were developed and tested, and a series of four expert workshops. The perspectives of key groups were focused on: Service recipients, service providers, technology developers and political actors. The results of ePflege point to a need for action in the user and everyday orientation of digital solutions and in the networking and information of all stakeholders. Likewise, there was potential in the further development of funding policy, research and evaluation, and the improvement of market conditions for the sustainable introduction of ICT in care.

The study describes the central need for action as the stronger anchoring of care ICT in the healthcare system and impetus for the further spread of ICT in care. Specifically, the establishment of an “ePflege initiative” and an “ePflege office” are proposed, as well as lighthouse projects for the district-based dissemination of ICT solutions and an “education campaign on digitization in care”. At the same time, these approaches are intended to tie in with funding programs and project results that have already been completed.
The study was prepared under the direction of Thilo Zelt (RB), Prof. Dr. Manfred Hülsken-Giesler (PTHV) and Prof. Dr. Frank Weidner (DIP) and their teams.

The study can be downloaded free of charge here.

Results workshop on the future of care on May 04 in Berlin

For the further development of future scenarios of care in the context of the initiative “Care of the Future”, a total of 27 experts from the professional public in the environment of care gathered for the last time on May 04 in the premises of the old Leihamtlofts in Berlin.

In the course of this workshop, an online tool developed within the framework of the BMBF project “Transdisciplinary Future Orientation for the Design of Human-Technology Interaction in Care (TZoP)” was presented for the first time, which makes it possible to go through the scenario process digitally. The aim is to obtain assessments of future care from people in all areas of care, as well as from family caregivers or people in need of care themselves, in order to develop future scenarios that are as robust as possible and, in particular, to drive forward the discourse on the further development of care in Germany. The workshop was accompanied by lively discussions and many suggestions for adapting a web-based scenario process in order to involve as many interested parties as possible.

In the workshop phases, the participants worked in three groups on the final steps of a scenario process. Here, the focus was on deriving consequences and implications of the previous scenario work for current developments in nursing care. This closes the circle: design options are derived from a look into the future and questioned with a view to opportunities and risks.

Workshop participants were impressed by the results of the scenario work and by the scenario method itself:

“I came very skeptical and with many questions – also to the second workshop – and found the work in the workshops incredibly productive. After developing the scenarios, I went home with an enormous increase in knowledge. That was the motivation to now also learn about the results, but also to get into an exchange about them and to answer the question of how to proceed. My assessment is consistently positive, it was very stimulating and I am very happy that I was able to participate in such a development process.” This was the feedback of one participant.

Another participant summed up: “I think that the journey is the goal: we can learn from each other by discussing here. For me, it’s not primarily the results that are decisive, but the things that develop in dialogue with the other workshop participants, and that’s what’s crucial.”

Project manager Prof. Dr. Manfred Hülsken-Giesler thanked all participants: “Thank you for your time, your energy and the food for thought you have given us. We’ll stay on the ball, because shaping the future is a process that never ends.”

3rd symposium on “Digitization and Technology in Nursing Care”

The 3rd symposium on “Digitalization and Technology in Care” took place on April 5, 2017 at Haidenauplatz 1 in 81667 Munich. After the extremely positive feedback to our first two symposia, we want to further deepen the topic. We are particularly pleased that once again MDK Bayern and VDE Bayern were our cooperation partners and HCM – the Health & Care Management magazine our media partner. You can find the results here

In the discussion round, moderated by Dr. Bernd Wiemann, Minister of State Melanie Huml fielded questions from nursing practice, including Anke Franke, director of the Maria-Martha-Stift and the Protestant Diakonie in Lindau. (Image source: Health&CARE Management)

In a technology tour, the Minister of State will be presented, among other things, the telemedicine system COMES from SW-Haus Zuleger, image source: Health&CARE Management).

Digitization and technology of care

Digitization and technology are important fields of action for coping with the increasing tasks in nursing. There are already good and proven tools in daily care work. New buzzwords such as e-health, smart home, digital rescue and ambient assisted living (AAL) are currently doing the rounds. But how are they being adopted?

In order to use the modern aids, decision-makers and caregivers need to be trained in their use. In many places, more technology and digitization are met with reservations and rejection by those in need of care and caregivers alike. Such stumbling blocks must be taken seriously and taken into account, especially in innovations and the further development of technical aids by engineers and technicians.

“New approaches to occupational health and safety in the care and service sector” brochure

As part of the funding priority “Preventive measures for the safe and healthy work of tomorrow” of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, a number of research and development projects are looking at new approaches to occupational health and safety in the care and service sector.

While the funding priority as a whole considers the topic of “Work 4.0” particularly from the point of view of increasing digitization and develops corresponding prevention strategies in the focus on “Industry 4.0”, among other things, this brochure presents the work of a focus group of collaborative projects from the care and service sector, which sees digitization as just one development trend among several.

For in this sector, too, only positive ideas for Work 4.0 and good concepts and examples of successful prevention can meet the challenge of attracting the large number of skilled workers needed for the future and ensuring that they remain in jobs and employment.


You can order the brochure here.

Technical paper on technical support for the elderly and nursing care

In the context of the book volume “Was heißt schon alt”, which was recently published as volume 8 of the renowned series “Ethische Herausforderungen in Medizin und Pflege” (Ethical Challenges in Medicine and Care) by Verlag Grünewald (ISBN 978-3-7867-4029-2 ), Prof. Dr. Manfred Hülsken-Giesler discusses “Was heißt schon alt – Technische Unterstützung für ältere Menschen und die Pflege”.

Key points of the ethical evaluation of robotics in nursing care

In the current issue 1/2017 of the Journal of Medical Ethics, Prof. Dr. Manfred Hülsken-Giesler and Dominic Depner (both working within the framework of the Initiative Pflege der Zukunft) publish the article “Robotik in der Pflege – Eckpunkte für eine prospektive ethische Bewertung in der Langzeitpflege”.

You can access this article here