MCI repeats success at Health Research Award 2019

At this year’s Austrian Health Congress, the best master's theses in the field of health economics were awarded the coveted Health Research Award. With the prizewinner Sylvia Dirnberger, a graduate of the MCI Master's degree program "International Health & Social Management", the Entrepreneurial School® is once again at the forefront.

With her outstanding master thesis "Screening and prevention of delirium in German hospitals", Sylvia Dirnberger impressed the jury in all aspects and was designated as winner of the category Health Care. In her work, she deals with the problem of delirium, a physical disorder of consciousness, which affects numerous hospital patients. Reversible in many cases, delirium is a major burden for patients and their relatives and contributing factor of major costs for healthcare systems. Although the importance of screenings and effective preventive measures are well known, they are rarely used in practice in hospitals. The nursing staff could play a key role in the successful implementation of such measures, which is why Dirnberger is primarily examining their perspectives and possibilities. Sylvia Dirnberger's thesis supervisor, MCI lecturer Iryna Rombak, emphasizes: "Based on her very comprehensive quantitative analysis, Ms. Dirnberger was able to prove an invaluable contribution to the further development of the health system."

MCI Professor Siegfried Walch, Head of the Department of Nonprofit, Social & Health Care, is delighted for his graduate and sees the successful development of the MCI and his department confirmed; "I congratulate Mrs. Dirnberger, whose work addresses an important topic in health care, and on top of that at an excellent academic level. At the same time, I would like to congratulate our entire department team, which has contributed over many years to the development of highly successful and internationally networked degree programmes in the field of social and health care.”