PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Background: The German Care insurance is only a partial coverage insurance which requires private and familial services of care. Hence the potential benefit recipients are not seen as carriers of rights but of personal responsibility. This means that three-quarters of those in need of care in Germany are cared for by families in the home. So far, research has focused primarily on (in-law) daughters providing care. However, one of the most frequent care constellations in Germany is care provided by the the (marriage) partner. Spouses take over the care in the first place and hand it over to daughters (second place) only when they can no longer do it. The findings of studies on parental care are not easily transferable to couples in a care relationship. Thus, the care situation of couples presents itself as a socially particularly isolated situation. This contribution examines how these couples and their children are supported in family care. Which family dynamics arise in the relationship family - couple. What can social work services contribute to the distribution of care tasks within the family? Material and methods: Ten problem-centered interviews with a high narrative content were conducted with heterosexual couples aged 60-91 years, in which one partner cares for the other. Nine of the ten couples interviewed have children together. Seven of the interviewees are participants in nursing courses, in the context of which they are attended by so-called nursing trainers in the home. In addition, a group discussion was conducted with these care trainers. The material was evaluated using the documentary method. Results: Relationships and roles within the family have to be reorganized in the course of a parent's need for care. This includes renegotiating gendered relationship roles and tasks within families. In the case of care provided by spouses, the couple often isolates itself. The married couple forms a alliance to which the children have only limited access. A knowledge of each other and the (common) past shapes the search for manners of couples with care relationship. There is a strong relationship to each other whereas the children have other social relationships, for example in their professional lifes. The care situation is often on the borderline to placement in a nursing home, which the family tries to prevent. The interviews make it clear that married couples share a common construction of reality in which other family members are not involved. Conclusions: A lack of inclusion and preservation of family support structures was found in existing social care services. However, existing family support structures should be constructively included in the interest of the patient. In family care, besides nursing difficulties, psychosocial problems are increasingly in the foreground. In the case of couple care, maintaining couple routines is important for coping, as is negotiating roles in a new family dynamic. For sustainable support arrangements, therefore, non-medical concepts are increasingly in demand, in which psychosocial support is provided to families in the new dynamics.