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Little research has been conducted on the experience of pancreatic cancer from a patient's perspective. Several factors suggest that trajectory models of chronic illness or other cancers cannot be applied to pancreatic cancer. Within this grounded theory study, 26 problem-centred interviews were conducted with people with pancreatic cancer from Germany. A cancer-specific trajectory model was developed, depicting both curative and palliative courses. Two successive phases form the core: Immediately after diagnosis, there is an acute phase in which patients focus on mere survival, attempt to overcome the short-term consequences of pancreatic cancer and search for information. This initial phase is followed by a circular phase of living on with pancreatic cancer, characterized by adaptation to the long-term consequences of the disease and a repeated experience of fear of recurrence or progression and threat in the context of follow-up examinations. Understanding disease trajectories from a patient's perspective enables health professionals better to understand patients' needs, concerns, and fears and better support them in coping. Trial registration: German Clinical Trials Register, DRKS00020251, 13.01.2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives: Preventive home visits are a low‐threshold counselling and support approach. They have been reported to achieve heterogeneous effects. However, preventive home visits have the potential to reduce the risk of becoming dependent on long‐term care. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of preventive home visits as a nursing intervention on health‐related quality of life of older people in a longitudinal survey and to develop recommendations for which target groups preventive home visits have the highest benefit. The sample consisted of 75 people, aged between 65 and 85, who were able to understand and speak German, had not yet been eligible for benefits from the long‐term care insurance and lived in the municipality under study. Methodological Design and Justification: A quantitative longitudinal study in order to investigate the effects of preventive home visits. Ethical Issues and Approval: There were no ethical concerns. Accordingly, ethical approval was granted. Research Methods, Results and Conclusions: The health‐related quality of life was recorded four times between 01/2017 and 08/2020 with the Short‐Form‐Health‐Survey‐12 and analysed using descriptive statistics. Results reveal that the physical health status cannot be easily influenced over a short period of time. The main effect, however, is that preventive home visits have a significant positive effect on the mental health status. The main topics during the home visits were mobility, nutrition and social participation. Increased knowledge and motivation for preventive behaviour extended the autonomy of older people. Accordingly, preventive home visits can support a self‐determined life in a familiar environment. The results of the present study show that preventive home visits as a nursing intervention in rural areas are successful. In Germany, preventive home visits have not yet been implemented on a regular basis. In order to do so, a general definition of the concept is needed. Preventive home visits should be officially included in the regular health care services in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction While there is growing evidence of the benefits of assistive technologies little is known about their adoption under real circumstances and prevalence for everyday use. Objective The aim of this analysis therefore was (i) to investigate the adoption rates in the real world and (ii) to identify potential determinants of their adoption by care-dependant persons and family caregivers. Methods The present study is a secondary analysis based on the data set of the VdK study on home care arrangements (n=53,678). The analysis of the adoption rates included 22,666 care-dependant persons and caregivers, the identification of potential determinants via binary logistic regressions included 5,275 persons. Results Emergency call systems and technical (smart) aids reached an adoption rate of 40.4% (care-dependant persons) and 55.3% (family caregivers). Fall detectors, orientations aids, nursing apps and monitoring systems were used in less than 5% of the cases. Care degree and the use of an ambulatory nursing service increased the likelihood of using technical aids. Conclusion It can be concluded that innovative and sophisticated types of assistive technologies are still rather scarcely used for home care arrangements in the real world despite large research efforts in the last twenty years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]