From 1999 to 2001 the “Centre of Applied Health Sciences” (University of Lüneburg) carried out a research project in cooperation with the Psychiatric Hospital Häcklingen in Lüneburg and the department of social psychiatry and psychotherapy of the Hanover College of Medicine. The project covered the prevalence of mental disorders among the residents of nursing and geriatric homes in the district of Uelzen including different aspects of medical, psychiatric and nursing care. The research was based on a survey including all residents of these institutions. The response rate was 925 of a total of 1,100 residents. Results showed that three-quarters of the residents had considerable and different psychiatric symptoms and that almost half of the residents suffered from symptoms of dementia. The provision of health care as well as nursing care for these residents are considerably deficient. Care facilities are hardly of therapeutical standard and guidelines. This refers in particular to treatment with psychoactive drugs. The (few) comparable studies show that - with the exception of some pilot projects - the situation in the district of Uelzen may be similar to that in other regions of Germany.