Pflege zwischen Bürokratie und Realität: Familien am Limit | Jennifer Höfer

We are heading towards a care crisis not only in healthcare but also in long-term care. Dr. Laura Dalhaus discusses this topic in the new episode of "5 Minus – The Healthcare System Is Missing the Mark" with Jennifer Höfer from Valentcura. Jennifer guides those in need of care and their families through the bureaucratic maze of applications and supports them with her expertise on all aspects of long-term care. Because one thing quickly becomes clear: in Germany, long-term care is inextricably linked to bureaucracy, applications, and complex data protection regulations. Jennifer explains the process from applying for a care level assessment to the evaluation by the Medical Service (MD) and the actual organization of care. She often accompanies those affected to the MD's home visits. Older people, in particular, often find it difficult to talk openly about their limitations or to accept help. At the same time, these evaluations can recommend important assistive devices that significantly ease daily life. Laura shares from her own experience that family members often underestimate the burden of providing basic care. Therefore, she advises against taking on this task lightly. At the same time, she questions why assistive devices are often so difficult to access in Germany. In other countries, some support services are significantly more readily available. Jennifer advocates for automatically assigning care level 1 to people of very advanced age. In her view, this would eliminate time-consuming assessments that tie up specialists and incur additional costs. Simultaneously, she observes political efforts to change benefits related to care level 1 and to disadvantage family caregivers, for example, regarding pension points. Instead, financial support should be strengthened for people who care for their relatives at home. After all, around 70 percent of all people requiring care are already cared for in their home environment. Policymakers are also discussing to what extent property and home ownership should be used more extensively to finance care in the future. Another problem Jennifer sees is the lack of political organization among family caregivers. There are comparatively few associations representing their interests. This increasingly creates the impression that the responsibility for care is shifting back more strongly towards the family – similar to the situation before the introduction of long-term care insurance. Providing care at home also often brings emotional strain. Roles change when children suddenly take on responsibility for their parents. This leads to conflicts, feelings of being overwhelmed, and, not infrequently, a significant need for psychological support for family members. Formally, long-term care insurance providers have 25 working days to decide on an application. If this deadline is exceeded, sanctions are imposed. However, many people only submit an application when they see no other way out – often because their financial situation becomes increasingly difficult in old age. At the same time, more and more skilled workers are leaving direct care and moving into administrative roles. This further exacerbates the staff shortage and, according to Laura, is also a consequence of systemic perverse incentives and a lack of structural reforms. Therefore, she poses a fundamental question: Could we improve care if we simplified administrative processes and made certain services more easily accessible? After all, care counseling is already legally mandated and must be offered by health insurance companies. Jennifer, for example, could envision greater involvement of pharmacies and advocates for closer collaboration with general practitioners. Older people, in particular, often lack the resources to navigate information resources online. For general practitioners, organizing care services also represents a significant additional burden. Laura openly admits that care consultation is not her area of ​​expertise and that she would prefer to leave such tasks to specialists. She therefore has high hopes for new pilot projects and innovative care approaches that can strengthen care consultation and better support those affected. Visit Jennifer's website: www.valentcura.de Course for PAs and PCMs: https://bryght.social/shop/790 Community for PAs and PCMs: https://bryght.social/communities/phy... More about Laura: https://linktr.ee/lauradalhaus Visit Laura's shop: https://lauradalhaus-shop.de/ Chapters: 00:00:00 Nursing Shortage 00:03:31 The Nursing Process 00:11:12 Reducing Bureaucracy 00:15:12 Policy Goals 00:20:19 Organizing Nursing Care 00:28:46 Family Conflicts 00:30:54 Overburdened Applications 00:38:24 Counseling Services