We are happy to present you our second international newsletter. It provides up-to-date information concerning CoRe-Net—a competence network connecting scientific practice and research in Cologne.
For further information on CoRe-Net, please visit our English website.
Content:
1. Previous events and meetings
1.1. Review: ZVFK Forum “Health care research”
1.2. Review: CoRe-Net / ZVFK methods forum
1.3. Review: CoRe-Net members and general assembly
1.4. Review: “A coffee with science”
2. News in the CoRe-Net subprojects and coordinating unit
2.1. Coordinating unit
2.2. LYOL-C
2.2. MenDis-CHD
2.3. OrgValue
3. Submission to innovation fund
4. Outlook
1. Previous events and meetings
1.1. Review: ZVFK Forum “Health care research”
Thanks to all the participants and speakers for their contributions to this event. There were three interesting presentations and a lively debate at the end of the event. Dr. Scheibler started with his lecture about shared decision-making and presented a project of the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein.
Then, Mrs. Isselhard from the Institute for Health Economics and Clinical Epidemiology talked about health literacy from a cardiovascular rehabilitation patient’s perspective and about the development of a corresponding survey instrument. Prof. Kuntz concluded with a presentation about the quality of care, coordination and disruption within inpatient care, with a view toward patients’ needs.
1.2. Review: CoRe-Net / ZVFK methods forum
On 8th May 2018, the second methods forum jointly organized by CoRe-Net and the Center for Health Services Research Cologne occurred—this time on the topic of “SHI routine data”. Various lectures pointed out chances, possibilities and limits of SHI routine data. Also, the CoRe-Net database was presented in detail. A subsequent get-together with some drinks and snacks afforded the opportunity to intensify conversations.
Many thanks to all the lecturers and participants for their interesting contributions.
1.3. Review: CoRe-Net members and general assembly
On 29th November 2018, the first Core-Net members and general assembly occurred. Within this meeting, the election of the steering board took place, which is built by patient representatives and care delivery stakeholders. We are happy to present the following individuals, who are now part of the steering board:
Patient representatives: Mrs. Yvonne Oertel, Mr. Dieter Jänsch
Care delivery stakeholders: Dr. Thomas Joist, Mr. Günter Zwilling, Dr. Anne Bunte
Many thanks to all the participants!
1.4. Review: “Having a coffee with science”
The event “A coffee with science” on 10th July 2018 took place in the “Alte Feuerwache”, with more than 60 citizens of Cologne. This event intended to inform about current research projects while enjoying coffee and cake. Lüder Wohlenberg, a doctor and cabaret artist, moderated the afternoon in an amusing and entertaining way.
The event was jointly hosted by HealthRegion CologneBonn and CoRe-Net.
Thanks to all the participants and speakers for their interesting insights and the exciting discussions.
Some impressions of the event can be found here.
2. News in the CoRe-Net subprojects and coordinating unit
2.1. Coordinating Unit
We are happy about the final study approval by the Ethics Commission of University Hospital Cologne. Now, we can start to establish the unique and regional CoRe-Net database.
In March 2018, the database and its data protection regulations were presented at a methods workshop of AGENS (Working Group for Secondary Data Collection and Utilization) in Dresden.
To establish a unique database for Cologne is an important element within CoRe-Net. It contains the primary data from the CoRe-Net subprojects, structural data regarding health care providers and social indicators. Also, the routine data provided by four cooperating health insurance funds are part of the CoRe-Net database. In this way, the anonymized data of more than half of the Cologne population are available to answer scientific questions.
Please click here for more information about the database.
2.1. LYOL-C
Thanks to the valuable support of our practice partners, 360 relatives and affiliated persons replied to our questionnaire regarding the care in the last year of life. Even though many participants are affected by the loss of relatives, we received a lot of positive feedback regarding our study. Some participants wished for some help to cope with bereavement, so we’ve been able to mediate successfully to grief counselors. We will analyze the collected data soon. Furthermore, we will present our instrument at the Congress of German Association for Palliative Medicine.
For the second project phase, we conducted qualitative interviews with 26 participants who responded to the questionnaire. Thanks to the openness of the interviewees, we gained sophisticated insights into the health and social care at the end of life.
Our study protocol is now published in the journal BMJ Open.
We congratulate our patient representative Mr. Dieter Jänsch (Palliative & Hospice association) on his election as a member of the CoRe-Net steering board.
Please click here for more information.
2.2. MenDis-CHD
Since January 2018 we have been recruiting our patients, as well as their relatives and care providers in practices, hospitals and rehabilitation clinics. Through the cooperation with our practice partners, we were able to recruit 263 patients in 6 months. This value is above the nominal curve. Especially, the recruitment in practices and rehabilitation clinics runs quickly. In the rehabilitation clinics and hospitals, we conducted our first focus groups. Also, we collected data from care providers and relatives regarding patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).
Currently, we are constructing triads, consisting of one patient with CHD, one relative and one care provider, for conducting interviews with these groups.
Please click here for more information.
2.3. OrgValue
Since our last update, important milestones have been achieved:
– Publication of our study protocol in the journal BMJ Open
– Completion of data collection through interviews with decision-makers and patients (n=25)
– Completion of analyzing the interviews
– Finalizing an article, based on the interviews with decision-makers
– Developing a questionnaire for a quantitative survey
– Presentation at the event “A coffee with science” on 10th July 2018
– Presentation of results at national and international congresses
Please click here for more information.
3. Submission to innovation fund
On 20th February 2018, two further projects based on CoRe-Net were submitted to the innovation fund. One of the projects builds cooperation with the infectiology and the Cologne Network of Infectiology (Dr. Lehmann/Prof. Fätkenheuer). The other project was submitted by the palliative medicine team (Prof. Voltz/Dr. Dr. Strupp).
More than 200 project outlines regarding health care research received at the innovation fund. The decision can be expected in October 2018.
4. Outlook
For this coming autumn, we are planning further actions and events around “health care research” in cooperation with our members and with the Center for Health Services Research Cologne.
We are pleased to send you some information after the summer holidays.
With Best Regards,
Prof. Holger Pfaff and Dr. Nadine Scholten, on behalf of the applicants
