PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Beneficiaries from the German long-term care insurance living at home have the option between cash payments and care-in-kind services. For those who opt for cash payments, there is an obligation to receive expert advice and 'counseling visits' by a professional nursing service at least twice a year. Although more than 2 million of these 'counseling visits' are conducted each year in Germany, hardly anything is known about these visits and whether they are useful for care recipients and their family caregivers. The purpose of this project was to gain insight into the 'counseling visits' in order to develop a useful approach for the performance of these visits. Data collection took place in two regions of Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia). Data were collected using a questionnaire on the general performance of the visits, the perception of care recipients and their family members, and from the perspective of the nursing services. Additional qualitative interviews were conducted with family caregivers and nurse managers. Based on the findings, a family-oriented approach for home care counseling was developed and evaluated in 80 home care arrangements. The findings reveal that despite several efforts the usefulness and quality of the counseling visits basically occurs by chance. The family-oriented approach allowed for a better understanding of the home care arrangements and offered a solid ground on which to base recommendations and advice.