gms | German Medical Science

Background and Purpose: The right of self-determination and social participation are confirmed in the Universal Declaration of human rights. Nevertheless, current practice of dementia care is strongly influenced by a medical paradigm. Especially in late stage dementia, persons are only objects of interventions. There is evidence, that person-centred care (PCC) is not fully implemented in daily practice.

Excellence in dementia care needs a complex and dynamic concept of PCC that develops different habitus of professional caring staff. Beyond that PCC has to take into account the organisational practice dealing with different caring habitus properly in order to create a vivant PCC.

“HAbitus in LongTerm-Care of people with dementia” (HALT), promoted by Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft (DFG), investigates best-practice models of dementia care in long-term care facilities and develops an empirically based theory.

Research Focus: Theoretical sampling was combined with comparative analysis and data-triangulation. Initial data of registered nurses are collected from: participant observation (6), group discussions (3), and interviews (9).

Methodological and Theoretical Focus: The study follows the methodological principles of qualitative social research, especially the Documentary Method from Ralf Bohnsack.

Results: Preliminary results of the first case study show a typically arrangement of four different caring habitus within a classic clinical oriented leadership. The four habitus are: norm-oriented, service-oriented, self-dependent and organizing habitus that are manifested differently in larger open-plan and in closed small-scale living area of the facility.

Conclusions: In contrast to this pattern, the investigation is going to compare the preliminary results by a second case study with a theological and psychological bounded leadership.