Care is becoming an increasingly important topic in Germany due to the rising number of people in need of care. There are currently around 5 million people with a care level in Germany who are permanently dependent on help to cope with everyday life due to health impairments. The risk of needing care increases with age. While around 9% of people aged 70 to 74 living in Germany are in need of care, the proportion for those aged 90 and over is around 82%. The forecasts of the Federal Statistical Office also show a growing number of people with a care level in the coming years and an associated increase in the need for care. Around four out of five people in need of care are nursed at home, mostly by relatives.
ALMA PHIL has set itself the goal of using the digital health assistant ADELE A0004 (ADELE for short) to make everyday life easier for people in need of care, thereby maintaining their independence and preventing any deterioration in their need for care.
This study aims to prove the positive care benefits of using ADELE for people with a care level. The increase in knowledge from the study consists in the positive effectiveness and the nursing benefits for people in need of care, e.g., on the improvement and stabilization of independence especially in the home care situation; on reducing the mental and physical strain of coping with the need for care in everyday life; on improving the mobility of the person in need of care; on maintaining cognitive and communicative abilities (independence and social interaction) and on the improvement of adherence (regular intake of medication, regular fulfillment of set goals). In addition, the nursing benefits of ADELE also include relieving the daily burden on the personal care network.
A prospective randomized multicenter study with a parallel group design was used. To conduct the study, adult participants with proven care level were randomly assigned to the intervention group or the control group as part of a 1:1 randomization. The observation period per participant was 3 months on average. The data was collected by means of questionnaires. ADELE was provided to the intervention group. ADELE was not provided to the participants in the control group.
The primary objective of the study was to prove the improvement in patient sovereignty from the perspective of the patient with a care level, measured after 3 months. As secondary endpoints were defined (all measured after 3 months): the improvement of mobility, the improvement of mental and physical health, the improvement in patient sovereignty from the perspective of the caregiver, the reducing of the burden on the caregiver of the person in need of care in everyday life through the digital care application. As additional exploratory endpoints were the improvement in health confidence and the reduction of the systolic and diastolic blood pressure values defined, measured after 3 months.
