Home Care Services

The physical environment for providing nursing care should be suitable. If there is a need for improvement in this regard, you may, under certain conditions , be eligible for grants from the long-term care insurance fund to improve your living environment ( see above).

Outpatient care services primarily provide what is known as basic care. This includes, for example:

• Personal hygiene (washing, showering, bathing, hair care, oral care, dental care, and nail care)
• Assistance with getting dressed and undressed
• Storage and Bedding

In addition, there is medical care. These measures are carried out based on a doctor’s prescription. Examples include:

• Changing a Bandage
• Injections
• Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar Monitoring
• Wound Care
• medicinal rubs
• Medication Administration

The home care service often handles household chores as well. However, the selection varies greatly here. Examples include, depending on individual agreements:

• Grocery shopping
• House Cleaning
• Preparing Meals
• Washing and Ironing
• Caring for a Pet

In addition to the services mentioned above, the outpatient nursing service can also provide home care services. This support is provided in addition to basic care, medical treatment, and household assistance. This helps support daily life, for example, by providing activities tailored to individual needs or by fostering social connections.

If you’ve already narrowed down your list to a few home care providers, our ” Home Care Providers ” checklist will help you prepare for your no-obligation initial consultation.

Supportive Care

Supportive care is a benefit provided by statutory health insurance and is available to patients who, following major surgery, an exhausting course of treatment, or an acute exacerbation of an illness, are unable to care for themselves at home. Such patients are not considered to be in need of long-term care under the long-term care insurance system and therefore do not have a long-term care level. The expected duration of the illness should not exceed 6 months. An application for supportive care can be submitted to the health insurance provider by the person in need of care or by his or her family members. During a hospital stay, counseling on this matter takes place as part of the discharge planning process. Supportive care always requires a doctor’s prescription. For those with private health insurance, eligibility for long-term care benefits depends on the plan they have chosen.

The following services are available under supportive care:

• Housekeeping help. These are services related to shopping, doing laundry, cleaning the home, preparing meals, etc. You are eligible only if no other person living in the household is able to manage the household.
• Home Health Care. If there is a need for basic care and household assistance, and if care cannot be provided by another person living in the household, insured persons are entitled to up to four weeks of in-home care. This includes assistance with personal care, eating and drinking, getting out of bed, getting dressed, and using the restroom, as well as help with household chores.
• Short-term care. If home help and in-home care are not sufficient, those affected are entitled to short-term care in an inpatient facility. Care costs (excluding room and board) of up to €1,854 are covered.

For more information on long-term care, please contact your health insurance provider.

“24-Hour Care”

Many family members would like to fulfill their loved ones’ wish to receive care at home, but work commitments or distance often make it impossible to be there for their loved ones who need care around the clock. That is why many people are looking for a friendly and competent person who, if possible, is available around the clock to look after, care for, and support their family member. Unfortunately, there are only a few legal options for accessing such services. Caregivers in this country are subject to the Working Hours Act and may not work more than 8 hours a day. In addition, rest periods must be observed, and adequate time off must be scheduled.

Depending on the level of support and care needed and financial circumstances, the following services are available:

• Established German home care services offering 24-hour care that are approved by the long-term care insurance fund. They offer very high performance and, consequently, are priced accordingly.
• Legally employed domestic workers who, however, are permitted to perform only basic care and household tasks. These caregivers are hired directly by the person receiving care or their family members, in accordance with German law (taxes, health insurance, accident insurance). However, this means that you must observe working hours and break times and pay a wage that is customary in the industry.
• Private placement agencies that primarily place non-German citizens as caregivers or personal care workers . This type of employment in the private household of a person in need of care carries many risks. Among other things, it is necessary to ensure that the caregiver or support worker is covered by social insurance in their home country through their employer (usually a contractor working for the agency). The responsibility for providing proof and undergoing testing lies with the families. If it is a case of bogus self-employment, this can have serious legal consequences.

Providing round-the-clock in-home care and support for family members is just as costly as full-time residential care in a nursing facility, due to labor and social security regulations. However, the costs for household-related services can be claimed as a tax deduction for up to an additional 4,000 euros per year (up to 20% of the costs).

Respite Care

Put simply, respite care means having someone step in to provide care. This becomes necessary if you and other family caregivers are currently unable to provide home care due to work, vacation, or illness. You can find an overview of the most important conditions and regulations regarding respite care on this page of the Federal Ministry of Health.

If an outpatient care service or an independent caregiver provides respite care, the long-term care insurance fund may reimburse the costs up to a certain limit. If respite care is provided on an inpatient basis in a nursing home, the long-term care insurance fund covers only the care-related costs up to the specified maximum amount. Respite care can also be used in several shorter periods or on an hourly basis.

If you, as a family caregiver, take advantage of a rehabilitation program, your family member can spend the time during your respite care near you or even at the same facility. You may also want to consider having your family member who needs care stay at a so-called ” care hotel ” while you are on vacation. Care here is provided either by trained hotel staff or by a local home care agency and can be billed as respite care.

“Meals on Wheels”

If a person can no longer prepare meals on their own and their family members are unable to provide meals, a mobile service provider can take over meal delivery —especially for a daily lunch. These days, there is a wide variety of options from different food delivery services almost everywhere. However, home care services often work with providers as well, so you can inquire with them. In some cases, residential care facilities also provide lunch. You can either visit the facility as a guest or perhaps even have food delivered from there.

When searching online, you’ll usually find these services listed under “Meals on Wheels.” Together with your family member , you should consider in advance what kind of care you would like. Most providers offer a choice between delivery of frozen meals for self-heating (in a microwave or oven) and hot delivery.

Home Emergency Call System

A home emergency call system is very helpful in providing peace of mind for both you and your family member. It is usually asmall , portable transmitter with an emergency button that is worn around the neck or on the wrist like a watch. In addition, there is a base station for the landline phone. An alarm can also be triggered here. You can also set it so that a specific button must be pressed once every 24 hours to check on your family member’s responsiveness. If this does not happen, the provider’s emergency call center will automatically respond.

After receiving the emergency call, the service center first attempts to contact your family member via the base station. In the next step, a trusted person with a spare key or the designated home care service usually visits the person in need of care. If it is not possible to make contact with the person in need of care, the fire department and emergency medical services are called in; however, they often end up breaking down the front door of the house or apartment.

The latest systems use artificial intelligence and sensors that detect movements indicative of a fall, for example. There’s no longer any need to wear a transmitter on your body; instead, the system responds to natural speech at any time, just like a smart speaker, and also automatically recognizes calls for help.

Under certain conditions, the long-term care insurance fund covers the costs of the in-home emergency call system or subsidizes this service with a fixed monthly amount.

You can find comprehensive information from the Consumer Advice Center about home emergency response systems here.