Christopher Kofahl

Christopher Kofahl
University Medical Center Hamburg - Eppendorf · Institute of Medical Sociology

PhD

About

235
Publications
36,542
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1,574
Citations
Additional affiliations
April 1995 - present
University Medical Center Hamburg - Eppendorf
Position
  • Deputy Head

Publications

Publications (235)
Article
Purpose: Parents of disabled and/or chronically ill children are more vulnerable regarding their health compared to parents of healthy children. This study examines, in how far burden of care is associated with health-related quality of life (QoL) in parents, across different illnesses and disabilities. Moreover, it is unclear whether and to which...
Book
Full-text available
Die gesundheitsbezogene Selbsthilfe in Deutschland hat sich - ausgehend von einer auf gegenseitige Hilfe ausgerichteten Bewegung - zu einem wichtigen Mitgestalter sozialer und gesundheitlicher Versorgung entwickelt. Die SHILD-Studie vermittelt auf Basis einer bundesweiten Befragung von Selbsthilfegruppen, -organisationen und -unterstützungseinricht...
Book
Full-text available
Selbsthilfegruppen sind eine wichtige Säule in der gesundheitlichen Versorgung. Sie unterstützen Menschen mit chronischen Erkrankungen und ihre Angehörigen. Welche Wirkungen die Gruppen auf ihre jeweiligen Mitglieder haben, ist allerdings kaum untersucht. Vor diesem Hintergrund förderte das Bundesministerium für Gesundheit die deutschlandweite Stud...
Article
Objective Empowerment is critical for cancer patients to make informed choices, to manage medication, and to navigate through the oncological care system. Cancer peer support provides patients with information, emotional relief and may promote empowerment. This paper provides a systematic review of the literature examining the impact of cancer peer...
Book
Das Buch beinhaltet praxisorientierte, partizipative Modellvorhaben mit gesundheitsförderlichen und präventiven Maßnahmen, die sich an Menschen mit Migrationsgeschichte richten. Ein besonderer Fokus liegt hier auf den methodischen und praktischen Herausforderungen in der Umsetzung verschiedenster Angebote in der sozialräumlichen Gestaltung bis hin...
Article
Menschen mit Migrationsgeschichte bilden eine heterogene Bevölkerungsgruppe, die sich in Bezug auf Gesundheitszustand und Gesundheitsverhalten, z. B. Teilhabemöglichkeiten an gesundheitsfördernden und präventiven Maßnahmen, von Personen ohne Migrationsgeschichte unterscheidet. Anhand von Expert:innenbefragungen und strukturierenden Inhaltsanalysen...
Article
Full-text available
Background Patient-centredness has become a central quality indicator for oncology care. Elements include shared decision-making, patient navigation and integration of psychosocial care, which impact patient-reported and clinical outcomes. Despite efforts to promote patient-centred care in Germany in recent decades, implementation remains fragmente...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Self-help is an important complement to medical rehabilitation for people with chronic diseases and disabilities. It contributes to stabilising rehabilitation success and further coping with disease and disability. Rehabilitation facilities are central in informing and referring patients to self-help groups. However, sustainable cooper...
Article
Zusammenfassung: Hintergrund: Eltern pflegebedürftiger Kinder in Deutschland können auf eine Vielzahl von Entlastungs- und Unterstützungsdiensten zurückgreifen. Bislang fehlen jedoch systematische Untersuchungen und quantitative Daten zur Inanspruchnahme solcher Angebote auf der individuellen Ebene der Eltern und anderen Erziehungsberechtigten. Fra...
Article
Full-text available
Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Mundgesundheit ist ein wesentlicher Bestandteil der allgemeinen Gesundheit und des Wohlbefindens. Sie wird von vielen Faktoren beeinflusst. Dazu zählen insbesondere individuelle Aspekte wie Mundgesundheitskompetenz und -verhalten. Ziel der Studie war die Bestimmung des konkreten Zusammenhangs zwischen Mundgesundheitskom...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Studies in Germany have shown that susceptible groups, such as people with a migration background, have poorer oral health than the majority of the population. Limited oral health literacy (OHL) appears to be an important factor that affects the oral health of these groups. To increase OHL and to promote prevention-oriented oral health...
Article
Full-text available
Background Quality of life (QoL) of people with dementia (PwD) is an important indicator of quality of care. Studying the impact of acute hospital settings on PwD’s QoL requires assessment instruments that consider environmental factors. Until now, dementia-specific QoL instruments have not yet demonstrated their feasibility in acute hospitals beca...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose This study aims to assess whether cancer-specific knowledge (CSK) is associated with membership in a cancer peer support group (PSG) and other factors. Methods A cross-sectional study investigated the CSK of 1121 cancer patients of various entities across Germany. CSK was measured with the BCKS-14, a 14-item knowledge instrument which was...
Article
Das Projekt „Gemeinsam für ein gesundes Leben: Gesundheitsförderung mit und für Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund im Quartier“ des Paritätischen Gesamtverbands und des Universitätsklinikums Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE; Institut für Medizinische Soziologie) hat zum Ziel, gesundheitsförderliche Strukturen zu etablieren, an deren partizipativ angelegter E...
Article
Full-text available
Background Peer support is increasingly recognized as crucial for improving health and psychosocial outcomes in oncological care. The integration of cancer self‐help groups (SHGs) into cancer care facilities has gained importance in recent years. Yet, there is a lack of knowledge of the extent and quality of cooperation between cancer care faciliti...
Article
Full-text available
Objective Large-scale population-based studies regarding the role of education in periodontitis are lacking. Thus, the aim of the current study was to analyze the potential association between education and periodontitis with state of the art measured clinical phenotypes within a large population-based sample from northern Germany. Material & meth...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose This study aims to introduce the development and psychometric properties of a brief generic cancer knowledge scale for patients (BCKS-10) that includes different elements of knowledge and skills (terminology, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and numeracy). Although cancer knowledge is a central dimension of cancer literacy, most previous s...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Nowadays, much hope and expectations are associated with digitization in the health sector. The digital change also affects health-related self-help. A nationwide survey of self-help organizations (SHOs) aimed to show chances and limitations in the use of interactive IT tools like webforums, online meetings or social media as well as d...
Chapter
Die Entwicklung der Selbsthilfeforschung basiert auf einem sozialwissenschaftlich begründeten salutogenetischen Verständnis von Gesundheit. Selbsthilfe gilt in diesem konzeptuellen Rahmen als Element sozialer Unterstützung und damit als Ressource für die Bewältigung chronischer Erkrankungen. Im Zentrum der Selbsthilfeforschung stehen seit etwa 1979...
Article
Full-text available
Background Managing multiple sclerosis (MS) includes different treatment approaches. Rehabilitation is a key strategy in MS for improving functioning, activity and participation. As part of a larger study on overall patient experiences with different treatment approaches, this study aims to give an overview of different patients’ experiences and pe...
Article
Full-text available
Background Persons with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS) follow individual strategies to cope with this highly heterogeneous disease. As surveys show, lifestyle habits play an important role in pwMS. However, little is known about individual experiences of pwMS with different lifestyle adjustment strategies. Objective This study aims to describe and unde...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction The worldwide migration movement is growing and thereby challenging the health care systems of immigration countries like Germany to make health care equally accessible for all people. Due to their low oral health status and low uptake rates of dental treatment and prevention, migrants were detected as a vulnerable group. Data regardin...
Article
Full-text available
Background A variety of management options (e.g., disease-modifying therapy, lifestyle interventions, rehabilitation) are available for persons with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). Besides coping with the diagnosis, persons with MS have to make complex decisions, e.g., regarding disease-modifying therapies. In addition to factual infor...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background Quality of life (QoL) of people with dementia (PwD) is an important indicator of quality of care. Studying the impact of acute hospital settings on PwD’s QoL requires assessment instruments that consider environmental factors. Until now, dementia-specific QoL instruments have not demonstrated their feasibility in acute hospitals. Therefo...
Preprint
BACKGROUND Studies have shown that vulnerable groups, such as persons with migration background, have poorer oral health than the majority population in Germany. Limited oral health literacy appears to be an important factor that affects the oral health of these groups. OBJECTIVE This paper describes the development process of an evidence-based pr...
Article
Background : In a healthcare system, which aims to empower the patient, self-management becomes increasingly important. In Multiple Sclerosis, an effective self-management is associated with various favorable health-related outcomes like improvement in quality of life, the reduction of depression and anxiety symptoms, and reduced healthcare costs....
Technical Report
Full-text available
Survey with 1,070 parents of chronically ill and disabled children on the reconciliation of work and care. This survey was conducted in 08/2021 to 12/2021 for an expertise for the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. -> www.uke.de/famber
Article
Full-text available
Zusammenfassung Ziel der Studie Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund bilden eine heterogene Bevölkerungsgruppe, die sich in Bezug auf Gesundheitszustand und Gesundheitsverhalten, z. B. hinsichtlich der geringeren Inanspruchnahme von gesundheitsfördernden und präventiven Maßnahmen, von der Bevölkerung ohne Migrationshintergrund unterscheidet. Die Stu...
Article
Full-text available
Background Besides coping with a disease with many uncertainties, people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis face complex decisions concerning disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). In an interview study, we aimed to assess patients’ experiences with DMTs. Methods Problem-centred interviews were conducted with 50 people with relapsing-remitti...
Article
Full-text available
Cultural background influences how migrants and ethnic minority populations view and assess health. Poor oral health literacy (OHL) may be a hindrance in achieving good oral health. This systematic review summarizes the current quantitative evidence regarding OHL of migrants and ethnic minority populations. The PubMed database was searched for orig...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background A variety of management options (e.g., disease-modifying therapy, lifestyle interventions, rehabilitation) are available for persons with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). Besides coping with the diagnosis, persons with MS have to make complex decisions, e.g., regarding disease-modifying therapies. In addition to factual infor...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives Current oral health literacy (OHL) instruments vary in focus, methodology, administration time and burden. The widely used word recognition tests fail to encompass important OHL domains, while others exceed time frames for use in practical settings, require an interviewer or mainly measure self-assessments. This paper describes the devel...
Article
Full-text available
Background First investigations indicate a migration background of residents in Germany as a discrete risk factor for poor oral health. A lower level of oral health literacy among people with a migration background is considered a reason worthy of being investigated.AimThis article presents results on oral health literacy and oral health gained fro...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background: Besides coping with a disease with many uncertainties, people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis face complex decisions concerning disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). In an interview study, we aimed to assess patients’ experiences with DMTs. Methods: Problem-centred interviews were conducted with 50 people with relapsing-remitt...
Article
Full-text available
Background There is a lack of studies investigating the impact of postponed dental visits due to financial constraints on quality of life.AimsThe aim of this study was to identify whether these factors are associated longitudinally.Methods Data were derived from waves 5 and 6 of the “Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe” (SHARE). The an...
Article
Full-text available
Background A variety of management options (e.g. immunotherapies, lifestyle interventions, and rehabilitation) are available for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Besides coping with the diagnosis, people with MS (pwMS) have to make complex decisions such as deciding about immunotherapies. In addition to factual information...
Chapter
https://books.publisso.de/de/publisso_gold/publishing/books/overview/46/145
Preprint
Full-text available
Background: A variety of management options (e.g. immunotherapies, lifestyle interventions, and rehabilitation) are available for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Besides coping with the diagnosis, people with MS (pwMS) have to make complex decisions such as deciding about immunotherapies. In addition to factual informatio...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background: A variety of management options (e.g. immunotherapies, lifestyle interventions, and rehabilitation) are available for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Besides coping with the diagnosis, people with MS (pwMS) have to make complex decisions such as deciding about immunotherapies. In addition to factual informatio...
Article
Full-text available
Background The majority of acute care hospitals are not prepared for people with dementia with acute diseases in need of treatment. This results in an increased likelihood of the personnel being overtaxed. Dementia is the most frequent reason that hospital personnel administer sedating medication and use restraining measures.Objective The aim of th...
Article
Full-text available
Studien belegen: Immer mehr Selbsthilfegruppen engagieren sich in der Peer-to-Peer-Beratung. Für die Gruppen ist das aktive Zugehen auf Betroffene auch eine neue Möglichkeit der Mitgliedergewinnung.
Article
Full-text available
Objectives To identify factors that predict the quality of life (QoL) of patients with dementia in acute hospitals and to analyse if a special care concept can increase patients’ QoL. Design A non-randomised, case–control study including two internal medicine wards from hospitals in Hamburg, Germany. Setting and participants In all, 526 patients...
Article
Full-text available
Background: The first aim was to present descriptive data on the frequency of dental visits among older adults in Germany. The second aim was to identify the determinants of the number of dental visits using a longitudinal approach. Methods: Longitudinal data were derived from the German Ageing Survey, which is a nationally representative sample...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Introduction: There is a lack of oral health literacy (OHL) instruments addressing the intricacies of the German health care system and oral health (OH). Within the project “Promotion of OH and OHL of migrants” we have developed an instrument that assesses participants' knowledge of OH, prevention of oral diseases, and oral healthcare regulations....
Article
Full-text available
Ergebnisse aus der vom Bundesministerium für Gesundheit geförderten Studie zur "Gesundheitsbezogenen Selbsthilfe in Deutschland - Entwicklungen, Wirkungen, Perspektiven" - SHILD.
Chapter
Full-text available
Die vom Bundesministerium für Gesundheit geförderte Studie zur "Gesundheitsbezogenen Selbsthilfe in Deutschland - Entwicklungen, Wirkungen, Perspektiven" - kurz: SHILD - wurde im Juni 2018 nach über fünfeinhalb Jahren abgeschlossen. Das SHILD-Modul zu den Wirkungen der Selbsthilfe untersuchte unter anderem die Gesundheitskompetenz und den Umgang mi...
Article
Health literacy has recently been put on the health policy agenda in Germany, triggered by several recent studies that show that more than half of the German population has difficulties in finding, understanding, appraising and applying health information. Respective statistics reflect these individual difficulties and point at user preferences and...
Article
Die gemeinschaftliche gesundheitsbezogene Selbsthilfe hat sich in den letzten Jahrzehnten zu einem bedeutenden Akteur im Gesundheitswesen entwickelt. Als freiwillige und autonome Zusammenschlüsse von Betroffenen verschiedenster Erkrankungen und ihren Angehörigen organisieren und engagieren sie sich ehrenamtlich. Zunehmend kommt ihnen die Rolle des...
Article
Background Self-help groups (SHGs) are an inherent part of patient involvement and play an important role in the healthcare system. Until now, however, there has been a lack of systematic investigations and quantitative data about the individual impact of self-help for patients and relatives. Objectives This study presents the results of a compari...
Chapter
Hamburg hat mit einem Anteil von 18,9 % an über 64-Jährigen einen relativ günstigen Altersquotienten von 30 gegenüber 35 in ganz Deutschland (Destatis 2017). Doch auch hier bekommt das Risiko der Pflegebedürftigkeit eine erhebliche gesellschaftsrelevante Dimension. Die Organisation der Langzeitpflege ist zu einer komplexen Gestaltungsaufgabe geword...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives To compare oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in children and adolescents with and without migration background, and to assess whether potential differences in OHRQoL can be sufficiently explained by oral health characteristics. Materials und methodsA consecutive sample of 112 children and adolescents was recruited in a German...
Article
Background To cope with prostate cancer (PC) and its consequences and to be certain about therapeutic alternatives, some patients seek mutual help in prostate cancer support groups (PCSG), where they share information and find social support. Our study was intended to assess whether group participation is associated with health literacy (HL). Meth...
Article
Objective: About 800 of the 13,000 members of the German Tinnitus Association (DTL) are active in self-help groups (SHGs). This study analyzes whether SHG-participation is associated with tinnitus-related Health Literacy (HLit) and Quality of Life (QoL). Methods: In a cross-sectional study 1108 tinnitus patients in- and outside of SHGs administe...
Article
Objectives: To compare oral health, access barriers to dental care, oral health behavior and oral hygiene behavior of elderly German residents with and without immigration background. Design: In this cross-sectional explorative study, a convenience sample (N = 112, age ≥ 60 years, 54% immigrants) was recruited in four dental practices in Hamburg, G...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Für Menschen mit einer schweren, stationär behandlungsbedürftigen Akuterkrankung und der (Neben-)Diagnose „Demenz“ ist der Großteil der Akutkrankenhäuser nicht optimal vorbereitet. Insbesondere die personelle Ausstattung und Qualifikation als auch die baulichen und räumlichen Bedingungen entsprechen den besonderen Bedarfen und Bedürfnissen demenzer...
Chapter
Full-text available
This article is about the personal view of MS-patients on self-help groups on the basis of the qualitative data (free comments) gathered in the SHILD-study. The whole book (in German only) containing the chapter can be downloaded here (free access): https://www.dag-shg.de/data/Fachpublikationen/2018/DAGSHG-Jahrbuch-2018-Gesamtdatei.pdf
Article
Full-text available
Objectives Demographic change has led to an increase of older people in need of long-term care in nearly all European countries. Informal carers primarily provide the care and support needed by dependent people. The supply and willingness of individuals to act as carers are critical to sustain informal care resources as part of the home health care...
Data
Distribution of adjusted inverse probability weights. (PDF)
Data
EUROFAMCARE dataset used for the analyses, as RData file (to use with R statistics). (ZIP)
Article
Objectives: The importance of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in multiple sclerosis (MS) is widely acknowledged. In 2015, a multicenter study was launched to assess the HRQoL and coping styles of chronically ill persons in Germany. The aims of this paper were (i) to describe how persons affected by MS assess their HRQoL and (ii) find out so...
Presentation
Der Großteil der Akutkrankenhäuser ist für Menschen mit Demenz nicht optimal vorbereitet. Demenzerkrankungen sind häufig Grund für den Einsatz freiheitsentziehender Maßnahmen oder ruhig stellender Medikamente. Das kann zur Verschlechterung des Gesundheitszustandes (z.B. als Folge von Stürzen und Delir) der Patienten führen. Daher wird in einem Hamb...