CarenapD -- a need-assessment for families with dementia; first use in Germany

In Germany the community care system is still not developed to meet the needs of families with dementia. The Scottish need-assessment CarenapD (Care Needs Assessment Pack for Dementia) records the need status of persons with dementia and initiates a care plan. Also the needs of informal carers are measured. After translating the assessment into German language, its practicality and adaptability was tested in this study from the perspective of the professional user. Also was tested, how the CarenapD results interpret the community care. The study was conducted as Convergent Mixed Methods Design. CarenapD was used by 12 staff members of different care provider and 3 staff members of the inspector board of the health care insurance system. They assessed 55 persons with dementia two times within 4 months. A questionnaire and analyses of assessment results produce findings for the practicality and adaptability of CarenapD. The assessment user themselves gave practicality and adaptability of CarenapD good values. Otherwise inclusion of persons with dementia into the assessment process was poor and need results show that the communication between assessment user and family needs improvement. For a successful assessment process to record and achieve the needs of service user are more steps of improvement necessary.