Health care in seniority: crucial questions and challenges from the perspective of health services research

This paper gives an updated outlook on geriatric health care in Germany and on research demands with particular respect to advanced-age patients with multimorbidity. The paper is written from the perspective of health services research and addresses selected topics such as primary care, palliative care, health policies and patient orientation. It is pointed out that the structure of services and processes of health care delivery is not compatible with the complex demands of the target group, and that the priorities of improvement strategies may differ among the various professional groups involved (e.g. primary chare physicians as generalists and palliative and geriatric experts as specialists). Furthermore, it is argued that the current incentives for establishing integrated health care may not be adequate to ensure that sustainable changes are made in the long term.