Qualitätsentwicklung und Nachhaltigkeit im Kontext häuslicher Pflegearrangements : Entwicklungstrends und Perspektiven

'What defines the quality of care?' is one of the key questions in health care and nursing sciences. This topic has been discussed in Germany for more than fifteen years and yet no theory based understanding of 'quality' in domestic care and nursing exists to date. Therefore, this work aims to develop theory driven indicators for care and nursing. The approach taken here consists of applying the paradigm of sustainability, originally developed by the social sciences, to the novel field of healthcare and nursing. The criteria 'active social life', 'self-determination', 'participation' and 'quality of life' are transferred onto domestic care and nursing. For example, the indicator 'availability of barrier-free living space# was used to operationalize the criterion 'active social life', while the indicator 'level of volunteer involvement' was employed to operationalize the criterion 'participation'. The degree to which individual indicators are applied in nowadays health care and nursing was determined based on an in depth literature analysis. In summary, this work clearly indicates which areas of care and nursing validate further study and development: For instance, it is imperative to further develop advice and information services, to speedily implement the 'empowerment concept' and to increase the involvement of voluntary care givers.