Table 3 Study characteristics of the studies included in the review

Nguyen et al., 2018 [48]

Journal publication

North-Rhine-Westphalia

Home to nursing home

To investigate experiences and views of informal caregivers and healthcare professionals regarding the transition of people with dementia to a nursing home

Secondary: qualitative cross-sectional study

Focus group interviews

Structured content analysis

Informal caregivers (of persons with dementia and one person with dementia) and

interest representatives (n = 17); age: 47–90; healthcare professionals (n = 13); age: 32–62

Stephan et al., 2013 [41]

Journal publication

North-Rhine-Westphalia

Home to nursing home

To investigate reasons for nursing home entry from the perspectives of informal caregivers and experiences during the first weeks after entry

Primary: qualitative explorative

Interviews

Inductive content analysis

Informal caregivers of persons with dementia, n = 114; age: 38–91 (mean: 59)

Koppitz, 2010 [38]

Journal publication and doctoral thesis (book)

Bavaria

To Nursing home

To gain insight into the experiences of nursing residents in the first 3 months after nursing home entry

Primary: qualitative explorative

Interpretative phenomenology, guided interviews

Interpretative phenomenology; thematic analysis

Nursing home residents (n = 12); age: 68–93 (mean: 83)

informal caregivers (n = 12); age: n.a

Hartmann et al., 2017 [36]

Journal publication

North-Rhine-Westphalia

To Nursing home

To investigate which tasks informal caregivers perform in the nursing home during the first months after nursing home entry

Primary: longitudinal study

Standardised questionnaire (InterRAI, frequency and duration of nursing home visits)

Descriptive statistical analysis

Informal caregivers of persons with dementia (n = 119); age: 32–91 (mean: 60)

Schulte et al., 2017 [40]

Journal publication

Niedersachsen

Hospital to nursing home

To investigate the technical and organizational feasibility, usability, usefulness and completeness of an electronic instrument (based on the German HL7 CDA standard for eNursing Summaries) for information transmission between one setting to another

Primary: cross-sectional feasibility study

Mixed methods; document analysis, standardized questionnaire (IsoMetrics), logbooks, transfer forms / reports, focus group interviews

Case analysis, qualitative content analysis, descriptive statistical analysis

Cooperation partners: 9 inpatient + 4 home care institutions; 1 maximum care hospital; users: n = 26 (14 hospital nurses, 12 nurses of nursing homes); patients (n = 14); sender of transfer E-reports (n = 10, receiver of transfer E-reports (n = 9); sender of paper-based transfer reports (n = 5), receiver of paper-based transfer reports (n = 5), n = 69, institutions (provision of care transition forms); age: n.a

Reinspach & Kraus, 2006 [46]

Project report (web document)

Bavaria

To nursing home

To evaluate the effectiveness, cost-efficacy, acceptance, quality of and satisfaction with the programme‚ Pflegeüberleitung’ (care transition)

Primary: longitudinal mixed methods

Mixed-methods; questionnaires, problem-centred / expert interviews; group discussions/group interviews, workshop

Descriptive statistical analysis of documents, qualitative analysis of documents, case analysis

Nursing homes (n = 40); nursing home residents (n = 7); relatives (n = 5); nurses (of nursing homes); care transition nurses (n = 40); other staff (hospital staff, social service, staff from the social services department, other experts ((n = 6)); nurses and management of nursing homes (n = 560); age: n.a

Neubert, 2016 [45]

Journal publication

n.a. (North- and South-Germany)

Home to nursing home

To investigate how informal caregivers experience the waiting period until a place in a nursing home gets vacant

Primary: qualitative explorative

Guided episodic interviews

Qualitative content analysis

Informal caregivers (n = 6); age: 45–84 (one person n.a.)

Hesse & Klewer, 2013 [44]

Journal publication

Saxony

Hospital to nursing home (and other facilities)

To analyse the requirements on the nursing discharge management of a general hospital from the perspective of aftercare institutions

Primary: quantitative cross-sectional

Standardized anonymous questionnaire

Descriptive statistical analysis

22 nursing homes, 1 acute hospital, (other aftercare institutions: outpatient nursing services (n = 22); assisted living facilities (n = 3); short-term care facilities (n = 7); rehabilitation facilities (n = 14)); age: n.a

Bräutigam et al., 2005 [42]

Journal publication

North-Rhine-Westphalia

Hospital to nursing home (and other facilities / home)

To investigate to what extent the “Pflegeüberleitung” (care transition) contributes to the assurance of continuity of care

Primary: qualitative

Primary: cross-sectional

Qualitative, participatory semi-structured Observation, documentation using a semi-structured data-gathering instrument, questions to the involved HPs after each situation

Descriptive running text, structured content analysis and discussion with professionals, interpretative evaluation (hermeneutics)

3 hospitals, 980 situations / 100 shifts (involving 4 patients per institution and the involved HPs); age: n.a

Ernst, 2019 [43]

Doctoral thesis (web document)

North-Rhine-Westphalia

Home to nursing home

To investigate transitions of care- needing people with dementia from home settings to nursing homes

to gain knowledge about the special needs of this group of patients and about the reasons for their transfer

Primary: qualitative explorative

Guided interviews

Qualitative content analysis

Relatives (informal caregivers) who had accompanied patients into formal nursing home settings (n = 17); age: 76–97 (mean: 86,9)

Pieper & Kolankowska, 2011 [39]

Journal publication

North-Rhine-Westphalia

Hospital to nursing home (and other facilities / home)

To evaluate the status quo of transition in a major German city after standardization of procedures and implementation of standard forms

to evaluate satisfaction with handling of standard forms and improvement of procedures and satisfaction of patients with the discharge process

Primary: quantitative cross-sectional

Standardized questionnaires

Inductive bivariate statistics

Nursing homes (n = 41), nursing services (n = 27), rehabilitation clinic (n = 1), GPs (n = 27); age: n.a.; hospitals (n = 13); patients (n = 634); age: mean: 62 (+ -15 years)

Zielke, 2020 [47]

Doctoral thesis (book)

North-Rhine-Westphalia; Niedersachsen; Saxony-Anhalt

Home to nursing home

To investigate the nursing home transition relating to housing and the design possibilities

Primary: longitudinal qualitative

Participatory observation 4 field phases (1 in an assisted living facility), comprehensive interviews

Grounded theory

Nursing homes (n = 3); nursing home residents (n = 29); age: n.a