Conceptual and legal approaches between home-based and in-patient dementia care

In Germany, there clearly appears to be a gap between care carried out at home and in in-patient settings (residential nursing care). Numerous innovative projects of alternatively structured care, like for instance shared flats or group care units for people with dementia are placed in between the traditional, either home-based or institutionalised care patterns. It seems imperatively necessary to overcome the rigid separation between the inpatient sector and care carried out at home. In this article, backgrounds, necessities and perspectives of projects placed in between the traditional structures are discussed.