Home care: DAK calls for relief for family carers

Nursing Report 2022
DAK demands financial relief for caring relatives

In Germany, most people in need of care are cared for by relatives in their own four walls.

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The number of people in need of care is increasing – they are usually cared for by their relatives at home. The loads are high. The health insurance company DAK took a look at home care in its care report and called for relief.

For some it was a gradual process until the mother or partner was less and less able to do it themselves, for others the father or wife suddenly becomes a person in need of care due to a stroke or accident. Most people are cared for at home. 80 percent – according to the data from the 2019 care statistics. In its current care report 2022, the health insurance company DAK took a look at home care. An important finding: Many caring relatives do not use support offers – for economic reasons or out of ignorance.

“Caring relatives are the backbone of care in Germany. That’s why we have to relieve them,” says DAK CEO Andreas Storm. “The vast majority of those in need of care would like to continue living at home. Their relatives would like to enable them to do this, but it takes a toll on them in terms of health, finances and emotions. They need more support.”

Home care largely financed by care allowance

Care in your own home is largely financed by the care allowance. It is paid by the long-term care insurance to people being cared for who are cared for by relatives, friends, or self-paid staff. Prerequisite for payment: care at home must be guaranteed and at least care grade 2 must be available.

There is also the possibility of combining the care allowance with a so-called care benefit in kind. An example of this: A man cares for his wife – and he is supported by an outpatient care service. The 2019 care report shows that of the 3.31 million people who are cared for at home in Germany, more than two million people in need of care (care level 2 to 5) are only cared for by relatives. A nursing service is involved in the care of 983,000 people in need of care (care level 1 to 5). In the vast majority of cases, it is women who take care of their relatives at home.

Moral and economic reasons for home care

In order to take a closer look at home care in Germany for the care report, data from DAK-insured persons was evaluated, a population survey was carried out and interviews were conducted with caregiving relatives. In Germany, inpatient care in old people’s homes has a bad reputation. Almost everyone would like to be looked after and cared for in their own four walls if they need care. The fact that most people decide to care for relatives at home has moral reasons on the one hand, but is also strongly determined by economic constraints. The reports in the care report make it clear that many caring relatives have the feeling that they have to do everything on their own.

A nursing home is too expensive for many carers. Additional help for care in your own four walls is often not used because the care allowance has to compensate for a loss of earnings or is used to make ends meet in the household. Or the offers on site do not fit into the everyday life of those affected. Another problem that the report uncovers: 67 percent of those affected do not know all the support and service offers that are relevant to them. This means that caring relatives do not know what additional help they can get or decide to take care of their loved ones on their own for economic reasons.

More and more people are dependent on care

However, there are many problems and challenges in the field of nursing. Since 1995, the number of people being cared for who receive long-term care insurance benefits has quadrupled and the number continues to rise. Since 1999, however, the number of nursing staff has only roughly doubled. And in the next ten years, many nurses from the baby boomer generation will retire – but the younger generation in the nursing professions will not be able to compensate for this loss. Care by relatives will continue to be important in order to be able to care for people in need of care in the long term.

“The Germans are experienced and willing to provide care. This willingness has been surprisingly stable over the years,” says Prof. Dr. Thomas Klie, Head of the AGP Social Research Institute. He examined the situation of caring relatives for the DAK care report 2022. “Whether you can live in your own home despite the need for care depends on the conditions on site for those in need of care and their caring relatives.”

Relief for relatives important

Because: Many caring relatives cannot carry out the various tasks in the care on their own and need support. For example, interest in outpatient care services is very high. But 67 percent of those surveyed in the report already report that nurses in nursing services are overworked. They hardly have enough time to take care of the person they are caring for (64 percent of respondents agree with this statement). In addition to the observed overload, many respondents report that it is often a problem to find a care service for their relatives. For many families, care allowance is essential to finance care within their own four walls. Almost two-thirds of those surveyed support an increase in care allowance. But: 38 percent would find more support on site more important than an increase in care allowance.

In view of the findings from the report, DAK CEO Andreas Storm calls for caring relatives to be given financial support quickly, but also for local support services to be better expanded in the medium term. So far, the law has stipulated that the amount of care allowance is reviewed every three years in view of price developments. This last happened on January 1, 2017. “This three-year rhythm is no longer up-to-date with prices rising so quickly: “The DAK-Gesundheit calls for a timely and noticeable increase in the nursing allowance – that should not be less than ten percent,” says Storm.

Sources:DAK Care Report 2022, Message about the report, Nursing statistics 2019

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