The project "Nonviolent Care - Prevention of Elder Abuse" focuses on the prevention of violence against older people in long-term care. Violence against older people and people in need of care is still a taboo subject in Germany. There is no concrete knowledge about the prevalence of acts of violence against older people in need of care, nor are isolated help structures and support services known in the population. Even experts from the care sector are overwhelmed by the lack of a nationwide network of support structures and binding recommendations for action.

The 30-month project of the Medical Service of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (MDS) therefore aims to develop a systematic approach to the prevention of violence in outpatient and/or inpatient care at a local level. This is to be implemented as an example in four model municipalities (Stuttgart, Fulda, Potsdam, Dortmund) in order to provide those involved in the nursing care landscape with greater certainty of action and to enable standardised structures at municipal level that are effective in the event of violence.

The project is divided into three phases:

• In the preparatory phase, existing structures within the individual model municipalities are recorded and analysed using qualitative and quantitative survey methods (as-is analysis).
• In the development phase, prevention strategies are developed taking into account existing structures within the municipalities and with the collaboration of experts from the field.
• In the implementation phase, the strategies developed are to be introduced for both the inpatient and outpatient (care) sectors and finally evaluated by the scientific support of the University of Cologne.