76-year-old Doris Linzert is sitting comfortably in a large recliner. Partner Rudi Pschyk, 73 years old, is right next to her on the sofa. There are newspapers on the table. It seems like an everyday scene of many older couples. But for the two it is anything but everyday life. It is the first time in over half a year that Linzert has sat down, showered and is wearing normal everyday clothes. For months she was only in bed and didn’t dare to get up. In addition, the two are not in the living room at home. They are in the so-called nursing practice center (PÜZ) in Mellrichstadt, Franconia (Rhoen-Grabfeld district).
People in need of care and relatives move into the PÜZ for a while to practice home care together. They can also test whether care at home is the right thing for them or whether a nursing home would be better, a kind of care on trial. Some PÜZ guests come without relatives. They want to learn how to continue living alone at home. Two apartments are available for this. The need is theoretically enormous: According to the Federal Statistical Office, there are five million people in need of care in Germany. 84 percent of them are cared for at home.
The PÜZ is not just about care techniques such as lifting, washing and wound care. “Relatives often want to know how they can cope with being constantly available,” says initiator and nursing service manager Ulli Feder. She tells of a husband who came primarily to learn how to wash his wife’s hair without her screaming. Together they have worked out that it helps if he is more balanced himself. According to Feder, a main focus of the PÜZ is to strengthen people in such a way that they can get through the situation at home well. Studies have confirmed that the emotional burden on caring relatives is particularly high.
Linzert and Pschyk are not only there to learn technology. “I want to relax a bit,” says Pschyk. He found out about the PÜZ from his family doctor. The seniors appear composed and grateful. But it’s clear that the past few months have been tough. “I couldn’t do anything anymore. Not standing at the sink, nothing,” says Linzert. “Rudi is my best piece.” Tears well up in her eyes. The two have only been in the trial apartment for a few days, but are already feeling hopeful. They can even imagine going shopping together again. An electric wheelchair should help with this. “Finally seeing something different again,” says Linzert.
Although psycho-social issues are often particularly important in the PÜZ, guests like Linzert are shown all kinds of concrete support tips. You will learn how smart home, voice control and so-called Ambient Assisted Living systems can be used to turn on lights and lower blinds or how the refrigerator warns if the door is accidentally left open. Washing in your own bathroom often works again when the vanity unit is removed and the person in need of care can sit in front of it, says Feder.
The PÜZ can be redesigned so that it is similar to the living situation of the person in need of care at home.
(Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa)
To ensure that everything is as true to everyday life as possible in your own home, door frames and passageways can be reduced in the PÜZ. Then they try it out: Which rollator still fits through? Other barriers were also intentionally built in, such as doorsteps and a small rise in the outdoor area. “In the hospital or rehabilitation clinic, the aisles are as wide as a soccer field and when people come home, the shock comes,” says Feder. You can rehearse the transition in the PÜZ. Most guests stay for two to three weeks. You pay an own contribution of 50 euros per night.
The PÜZ employees also help to find an outpatient nursing service and draw attention to the possibility of day and short-term care. In day care, the person in need of care is cared for and entertained in a facility during the day. She is at home in the evening and at night. Short-term care is inpatient care for a few days or weeks, for example when relatives want to go on vacation. Help is also available in the form of two-hour nursing training courses at home, paid for by the nursing care insurance companies. In some cities, voluntary visiting services also allow relatives to take time out.
The nursing training center in Mellrichstadt is unique in its kind in Germany.
(Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa)
“There is help, but it is often not used,” says Christa Büker, professor of nursing science at Bielefeld University. The reasons are varied: Relatives often do not know that the help is available. Sometimes those in need of care are skeptical. Due to the lack of staff, other affected people would not get any nursing service or place. “We therefore have to ask ourselves whether the relief offers are the right ones or whether we need others,” says Büker. She therefore finds the idea of the PÜZ “very, very good”.
Although the PÜZ has been widely praised by politicians and care experts since it opened in 2019, it is considered unique in Germany in this form. Even locally it is still relatively unknown. Only 40 guests have been there so far. The center was actually intended for people from the Rhön-Grabfeld region, but the initiators are open to inquiries from other regions. Head Feder would like the PÜZ to become better known at the interfaces: in hospitals, with general practitioners, with nursing services.
In the meantime, she is already planning a follow-up project: vacations with people in need of care. Doris Linzert and partner Rudi Pschyk are happy that she got out of bed at all. Maybe with technical help they will soon be able to walk the 500 meters to the nearest supermarket together. The seniors’ eyes light up just thinking about it.