For many of the more than 3.2 million women and men who look after a sick family member at home every day, vacation has become a foreign word. Some have not taken a week off in a row since the outbreak of the corona virus. Others even put off their own surgeries because they are reluctant to leave their husband or grandmother in the care of others. Lay carers are also entitled to rest. “Many people don’t take enough long breaks, but that’s important, especially in the case of chronic overload,” says Daniela Sulmann, nursing expert and manager at the Berlin Center for Quality in Nursing (ZQP). Many would not even know how vacations from the strenuous care can be organized or financed at all. An overview of what those affected are entitled to, what is financially possible and where advice is available.
What is possible:
Basically, there are two ways to take a vacation from strenuous care: Respite care, where the sick person is cared for at home by a substitute. And short-term care, where the patient comes to a home temporarily. A relief of up to eight weeks per year is possible. Time does not have to be taken in one go. Caregiving relatives can also travel together with the husband or grandmother who needs care. However, only within Germany. Gisela Rohmann, an expert at the consumer advice center in Rhineland-Palatinate, advises which way should be based on the needs of the patient. Not everyone in need of care likes to leave their familiar home.
How respite care works:
It can be a good solution if people in need of care want to continue to be cared for at home. If the caregiver is free, outpatient care services can step in as a substitute, or children, siblings, neighbors, friends. The long-term care insurance fund covers the costs from long-term care level two for up to six weeks, up to a maximum of 1,612 euros per year. At least half of the care allowance will continue to be paid during preventive care. But: The full 1612 euros are only available if an outsider steps in as a substitute, for example the neighbor or girlfriend.
Be careful, hook!
If close relatives of the first or second degree take on respite care, for example a sister or grandchild, less money is paid, and only proportionately what corresponds to the care allowance. At most, you can claim extra costs for travel expenses, loss of earnings or necessary childcare during the replacement period. Also important for the nursing care fund to pay: the patient must have been cared for at home for at least six months beforehand. However, if professionals from the outpatient nursing service are hired as holiday replacements, the money from the fund is used up quite quickly, according to Rohmann. The time-out then either has to be shorter or the person in need of care pays more. Many families are therefore looking for a replacement from the surrounding area.
This is how short-term care works:
If no replacement can be found or round-the-clock care is required, inpatient accommodation in a short-term care facility can be an alternative. Many retirement and nursing homes offer beds for transitional periods. Spontaneously going away or taking time off will hardly work. Free places are scarce, long preparation is necessary. The long-term care insurance fund only pays for short-term care if the patient has at least care level two, for up to eight weeks a year with a subsidy of up to 1612 euros. In addition, those in need have to pay for accommodation and meals themselves. Half of the care allowance continues to be paid during short-term care.
Is a mix also possible?
Yes. The combination of preventive care with short-term care can be interesting – if no benefits for short-term care have been accessed in the current calendar year. The reverse is also true. Upon request, the long-term care insurance fund will then increase the money for respite care by half the amount for short-term care from 1612 euros to a maximum of 2418 euros. Or it increases the subsidy for short-term care to up to 3224 euros if preventive care is not used, as the Stiftung Warentest calculates.
Take a break together:
For example, if you want to take your sick spouse with you to recuperate in Germany, you can do so. “There are more and more specialized vacation offers for carers and their relatives,” says Sulmann. In the meantime, many guesthouses, holiday resorts and care hotels have specialized in this type of “care vacation”. If you want, you can, for example, organize short-term care for the sick person in Bavaria or on the Baltic Sea and go on vacation there yourself. Or spend time together in a care hotel.
Who helps and advises?
Anyone who needs leave from care is entitled to free advice, including financial support. Points of contact for caregiving relatives include the care insurance funds and the care bases in the federal states. Also advise some consumer centers. The ZQP offers a Germany-wide overview of non-commercial counseling services at www.zqp.de/beratungsbasis.