2021, the project "Concept development for telemedical care of senior citizens in the Soonwald-Nahe region" was launched at the senior citizens' aid center of the kreuznacher diakonie foundation. The research network Health accompanied the project scientifically, the evaluation took over students of the degree programs B.A. Nursing (dual) of the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society. The project was successfully completed in March; a report can be found here.

The aim of the project was to test whether a physician's visit to the general practitioner in inpatient facilities ... would improve the medical and nursing care situation in rural areas. Based on the fact that the general practitioner care has deteriorated in recent years, especially in rural areas, due to the decreasing number of general practitioners and the simultaneously increasing life expectancy, as well as an increasing number of multimorbid elderly people, alternative forms of care are urgently needed. One part of this can be telemedical care in the form of videovisits. In order to test this and to identify opportunities and risks, at least 50 videovisits are to be carried out and evaluated during the project period. In addition to the internal evaluation, which focuses on functionality, the project will also be scientifically accompanied and documented in a teaching research project to determine acceptance among residents and staff. The findings will be used to develop a concept that will enable other facilities and services to introduce and implement video visits (see Stiftung kreuznacher diakonie 2023: Final Report Project Family Doctor Videovisite, p. 1).

The project showed that nurses use the resource Videovisite to support the nursing process. After intensive training, primary care physician rounds and nurse-led consults succeed. These consults were a particular benefit, so "in addition to GP videovisits, other uses were tested.... Among other things, an external wound expert was consulted to assess a wound, and internal nursing rounds were conducted with the QM staff" (ibid. p. 3).

The evaluation elicited the ratings of the videovists of the people with care needs and the nursing professionals. A conclusion from the research report:

"For the care professionals... this project has an almost universally positive tendency. A small facilitation of the care process, due to the documentation, as well as time savings are aspects that were consistently rated as positive. Although the nursing professionals feel that the system is not yet fully developed, they are positive about its further development. The nursing professionals were particularly positive about the fact that the residents can be offered help quickly and without long detours, which means that decisions and measures can be taken quickly. ...The survey also showed that the nursing staff would like to see this project expanded in the future by involving other disciplines and relatives." (Garcia, C., Heieck, K., Kastner, N., Seib, D., Zimmermann, J. 2023: Research Report - Student Teaching Research Project on the Evaluation of Success of Telemedical Family Physician Visits in Nursing Homes and Homes for the Elderly. HWG LU, P. 78)

The final report can be found here