Diversity-oriented organizational development in emergency rooms

The project is funded by the Innovation Fund of the Joint Federal Committee for the Promotion of Health Services Research.

Duration: January 1, 2026 – December 31, 2028

Project partners:

Consortium leadership: Institute for Medical Sociology and Rehabilitation Sciences; Prof. Dr. Liane Schenk (project manager),

Consortium partners: University of Potsdam, Chair of Organizational and Administrative Sociology; Prof. Dr. Maja Apelt (project management), Teresa Löckmann (project collaboration) Methodological management: Emergency Medical Care Research, Emergency and Acute Medicine (Prof. Dr. Anna Slagman)

Clinical expertise/coordination of emergency departments: Emergency and Acute Medicine, Central Emergency Departments, Charité Mitte Campus (CCM) and CVK (Campus Virchow-Klinikum) (Prof. Dr. Martin Möckel)

Content:

Demographic change and migration are leading to increasing diversity among patients and healthcare personnel in emergency departments. At the same time, structural pressures such as staff shortages and time constraints are contributing to inequalities in care. Studies show that gender, attributed ethnicity, and body weight in particular influence diagnostic and therapeutic decisions.

ED-DIVERSE systematically investigates how these diversity characteristics shape decision-making processes in critical situations in five Berlin emergency rooms. The study is based on a mixed-methods design that combines quantitative patient surveys with participant observation of care processes and qualitative interviews. The results are then reflected upon and further developed in workshops with healthcare professionals and representatives of self-help groups.

The aim of the project is to systematically analyze gender- and diversity-related disparities in emergency room care, reconstruct the underlying social, organizational, and systemic mechanisms, and develop concrete instruments and action plans for diversity-oriented organizational development in a participatory manner. In the long term, the aim is to initiate structurally anchored, diversity-sensitive organizational development that sustainably improves treatment processes in emergency rooms.