Ensuring medical, nursing, and rehabilitative care for the population through research and teaching is the goal of the Willy Robert Pitzer Institute for Health Services Research and Rehabilitation at the Department Health of the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM). The institute bears the name of the founder of the Willy Robert Pitzer Foundation in Bad Nauheim, which provides the personnel and material resources for an endowed professorship, allocating a total of one million euros over five years. The THMis responsible for the establishment, implementation, and operation of the institute. The endowed professor is Dr. Susanne Hanefeld.
The initiative to create an endowed professorship stems from a joint project between the foundation and Prof. Dr. Henning Schneider, Dean of the Department of Health, within the Studium Plus programme. The contracts were signed in 2016, and the official launch took place in early 2022 with the founding of the Institute for Health Services Research and Rehabilitation. Regular research and teaching activities commenced with the hiring of research staff.
“The funding of the institute by the Willy Robert Pitzer Foundation gives us the opportunity to establish a central point of contact for healthcare research in Central Hesse, to pool expertise, and thus to help shape and improve healthcare not only in Hesse but also beyond,” says Prof. Dr. Susanne Hanefeld. The business administration graduate from Marburg has been responsible for healthcare management, healthcare research, empirical research, and public health at the Department Health at THM of Applied Sciences since the beginning of 2018. As programme director, she established the Master's programme in Public Health there, focusing on healthcare research and rehabilitation. Previously, she worked as a healthcare consultant and research associate on various strategy and evaluation projects at Philipps University of Marburg.
The newly founded institute will focus on researching and improving healthcare structures in Germany. "We have the opportunity to develop and support sustainable projects that stand the test of everyday life and offer added value for the population's healthcare," says THMPresident Prof. Dr. Matthias Willems. Research topics include improving existing care strategies by incorporating digital innovations, addressing the shortage of skilled workers, and research on the social security system and the healthcare system with its incentive structures. "These topics are of growing importance and urgency. Thanks to the support of the Willy Robert Pitzer Foundation, we can give them the necessary attention," Willems gratefully acknowledges. Hanefeld adds: "In Germany, and internationally, we face many challenges in providing healthcare to our population. As the institute's director, I want to contribute to developing and successfully implementing sustainable solutions for these crucial issues."
Furthermore, the rehabilitation sector should be brought into focus: An ever-increasing working life expectancy, demographic change with a significantly smaller working-age population, multimorbidity, and altered social circumstances pose numerous challenges to existing rehabilitation structures. Coupled with the growing shortage of skilled workers, the necessary structural and organizational changes within the healthcare system must be designed on a scientific basis. Improved patient care, a strengthened rehabilitation sector, and the effective design of nursing processes are therefore medium- and long-term goals of the institute.
Dr. Helmut Häuser, Chairman of the Board of the Willy Robert Pitzer Foundation, explains: “Willy Robert Pitzer was a pioneer in the German rehabilitation sector.” He built and operated rehabilitation clinics, particularly in Hesse. A key objective of the foundation named after him is to promote research and teaching in medicine, including rehabilitation medicine. “We are pleased that the new endowed professorship will allow us to sustainably strengthen rehabilitation research and development at THM ,” says Häuser.
To transfer expertise to the region, a competence center is to be established where relevant stakeholders can exchange ideas. Cooperation agreements are currently being negotiated with various partners, and workshops and conferences are planned for the future.