Aging Brain Care Program from Indianapolis: Transferability to the German healthcare system

New and innovative concepts of care management have been developed to improve the health of older adults with dementia and depression. This article describes the American aging brain care (ABC) program and the possible transfer to the German healthcare system is discussed. The ABC medical home model in Indianapolis incorporates a specialized geriatric healthcare center which is affiliated to the Eskenazi Hospital as well as a program involving home-based domestic visits by healthcare personnel to affected people. The diagnoses are made in the geriatric center where therapy and treatment are also planned. These stages are carried out in a multiprofessional team, which identifies the individual needs of the patients and relatives and discusses these in family conferences as well as in close consultation with the primary care center of the hospital. The care, diagnosis and therapy are coordinated using a self-developed software for the program and via predetermined pathways and procedural instructions on the approach in the healthcare center and in the domestic visit program. From the perspective of the authors the core elements of the program include not only the use of a home-based care model but also the selection and training of a new type of front-line care provider. Models like the program presented here show great promise for meeting the demands of a rapidly expanding population of vulnerable older adults.