[Strategies for coping with complex problems. Importance of an integrated practice to the quality of life in patient care].

Due to the demographic shift, increasing care needs of elderly and chronically ill people have growing impact on the health care services. With complex needs to meet, the quality of life of patients depends on multiple factors, of which the continuity of care plays an important role. Integrated care requires the exchange of information and close coordination on the concept of care between all participants in the care process. Yet, collaborative care is often seriously jeopardized by lack of knowledge about the concepts, scope of action and requests of the involved health professionals and services. Information on the past and present health state and on self care resources are prerequisites for adequate rehabilitation efforts that are patient-oriented and of high quality. To make sure that interventions promote or stabilize the quality of life, the participation of the client is inevitable in all stages of the process of care planning and coordination. The results of a research project concerning cooperative quality improvement carried out at the Agnes Karll Institute for Nursing Research stress these assumptions.