Within this research group we investigate how we can improve the quality of care and quality of life of vulnerable older people living at home in general and of people with dementia in particular. This aim is in line with many local and national initiatives to have different disciplines such as elderly care physicians, general practitioners and district nurses working together for this target group. There are, however, still many bottlenecks in shaping the cooperation between all disciplines involved and making intramural knowledge available in the community-setting.
Crisis situations – sudden emergencies in which the functioning of an individual or system is seriously disturbed – can negatively affect quality of life of vulnerable older people and their informal carers. We conduct research to gain more insight into crisis situations and how to recognize, prevent, and manage these situations. We also focus on specific conditions such as delirium that are correlated with crisis situations.
Examples of past and current research topics are:
Many older people want to live at home as long as possible. Government policy also aims to stimulate care at home and support older persons to remain living in their own environment. However, with an aging population and a decrease of informal carers in the future, this may prove to be challenging. Acute situations in which the older person and their informal caregiver feel that ‘now it is no longer possible to live at home’ are likely to occur more often. Research is needed to improve collaboration between all disciplines involved in primary care to prevent these crisis situations.
Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen
Department of Primary and Long-term Care
P.O. Box 196
9700 AD Groningen
Visiting address
Department of Primary and Long-term Care
Oostersingel | entrance 47 | building 50 | 2nd floor
Groningen
The Netherlands
