On the Map: Disparities in Nursing Home Care Quality Across Germany in 2023
Significant Variations in Care Quality Across Regional Nursing Homes - Significant Variations in Quality of Home Care Across Regions
There's a story behind the numbers when it comes to nursing home care quality across the German landscape in 2023. AOK's Quality Atlas Care has shed some light on the matter, focusing on the prescription of sedatives and sleep medications, diabetes care, and hospitalizations due to falls.
Medication Use and Dependency Risks
The long-term prescription of certain meds like benzodiazepines poses risks of dependency, anxiety, depression, and increased fall risks. In 2023, the number of residents in nursing homes who received long-term prescriptions dipped slightly to 7.14 percent from 7.33 percent in 2022.
However, the west of Germany saw significantly more high-risk long-term prescriptions than the east, with Saarland reporting the highest percentage at 15.88 and Saxony-Anhalt the lowest at 2.9 percent.
Diabetes Care Gaps and Ophthalmological Preventive Care
Another worrying trend is the high proportion, over 79 percent, of nursing home residents who did not receive ophthalmological preventive care in 2023. A south-north gradient is apparent here, with more districts in the south being hit the hardest.
There were more affected districts in Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Bavaria, while the situation improved in Berlin, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Schleswig-Holstein.
Hospitalizations Due to Falls and Medication Interactions
The risk of falls is further exacerbated by certain medications, with every sixth person hospitalized in a nursing home due to falls in 2023. This rate was higher in Rhineland-Palatinate, at 18.45 percent, compared to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the figure was just over 13 percent.
AOK Quality Atlas Care and Regional Disparities
The data for the AOK Quality Atlas Care in 2023 is based on the billing information of the eleven AOK regional associations, which insure around a third of the population in Germany. Factors such as staff availability, training, infrastructure, regulations, and demographic factors can all contribute to regional disparities in nursing home care quality.
Regional disparities in care quality can vary significantly, impacting the health and wellbeing of the elderly population. To understand these patterns more profoundly, it's essential to examine the specific factors contributing to the data found in the AOK Quality Atlas Care report.
- The increasing number of people receiving care in the home indicates a growing trend in health-and-wellness, as more individuals prefer at-home care as part of their aging process, relying on science and various therapies-and-treatments for their wellbeing.
- In the realm of science and fitness-and-exercise, promoting the importance of physical activity for the elderly is crucial, as avoiding long-term prescriptions of certain medications such as benzodiazepines that pose risks of dependency, anxiety, depression, and increased fall risks can significantly improve the health and wellbeing of seniors.
- The AOK Quality Atlas Care report can also highlight the significance of nutrition in aging, as regions with higher percentages of nursing home residents who did not receive ophthalmological preventive care, like the south of Germany, may indicate poor nutrition and associated health concerns among the elderly population.
