Overview: Elderly care & care in the event of illness or injury

What does care mean and how does it differ from nursing care?

Care means everything that does not fall within the scope of basic care or treatment care. In other words, all non-medical assignments that fulfill a social, supportive or administrative task. Depending on the provider, housekeeping is often listed separately. However, for the sake of completeness, we also consider domestic services to be care in this article. Of course, every care assignment also includes a certain amount of care services. However, this blog post will focus purely on care services.

In contrast to care, nursing care includes all medical services such as

• Changing dressings,
• administering medication,
• monitoring and operating medical equipment,
• creating and evaluating care plans

and also non-medical services such as

• personal hygiene and
• assistance with dressing or getting
• getting up.

We have also written this blog post about the many different terms. Nursing staff are trained and qualified to provide these basic and treatment care services as well as specialized care. If medically prescribed care services are no longer necessary, but support in everyday life is, services such as personal hygiene and assistance with dressing etc. then fall under care. The two areas of nursing and care overlap here, depending on the activity and the doctor's prescription.

Of course, staff also need the right training for typical care services. However, there are also providers who specialize purely in social companionship and have no special training. Unfortunately, there are also an increasing number of dubious providers who not only endanger their clients' well-being and wallets , but whose commissioning is even punishable by law.

However, as the necessary care can usually be provided simply by providing companionship and everyday support, these activities are often carried out by relatives. Depending on the individual case, the necessary care is either provided by the caregiver in addition to the care assignment or by relatives, who in turn can be supported by a Spitex provider or by a caregiver. We have published this blog post on the topic of "Caregiving relatives".

And why is care so important for the elderly, sick and injured?

If you want to maintain your usual quality of life for as long as possible in old age, but are no longer able to carry out all activities yourself and have no family members to help, there is no getting around the need for appropriate care services. This also applies to seriously ill people, injured people, pregnant women or people with a disability - depending on their individual situation. Apart from the very practical benefits, such as a housekeeping service or help with administrative matters, care services also have very important social, psychological and spiritual effects. For example, regular visits prevent isolation and the associated negative consequences such as depression. They can also help to monitor health and prevent the development of illnesses.

Especially in old age, company, conversation, joint activities and exercise during walks not only keep you physically fit, but also mentally. This promotes personal development and ensures a self-determined quality of life despite limitations.

What care services are available?

As individual as people and their personal life situations are, so too is the range of care and support services on offer. The latter can be roughly divided into the areas of "care at home", "housekeeping", "care outside the home" and other more specialized care services.

Everyday support and assistance at home:

• Help with getting up and going to bed as well as dressing and undressing

• Simple activities relating to personal hygiene, hairdressing, going to the toilet

• Planning the daily routine together

• Cooking and eating together

• Simply keeping company, drinking coffee/tea and chatting about "God and the world"

• Playing board and card games

• Listening to music, making music, singing or reading aloud and reading together

• Crafty, creative work such as painting, handicrafts or knitting

• Exercise, dancing

• Administrative support with telephone calls to authorities or insurance companies, drafting letters and filling out forms, organizing and supervising tradesmen, etc.

Housekeeping, help with running the household:

• Shopping, cooking, baking and washing dishes

• Washing and ironing, vacuuming and dusting

• Tidying up, cleaning and disposing of garbage

• Looking after pets, caring for plants and garden

• Tidying up and waste disposal

Accompaniment and care outside the home:

• Accompaniment to the doctor, therapy or pharmacy

• Doing errands together

• Visits to the hairdresser, concerts, exhibitions, museums, church or cemetery, friends and relatives or celebrations

• Walks, excursions, travel companions or hikes

Other care services:

• Qualified care for people with dementia, end-of-life care, palliative care or psychological support

• Relief for family caregivers through active help, professional knowledge or mental support

• 24-hour care or night and sitting watch

What about the costs of these care services?

Under certain circumstances, care services are prescribed by a doctor and are therefore covered by health insurance - albeit only to a very limited extent. The remaining costs, which were financed privately, can at least be claimed on your tax return if they were prescribed by a doctor. In this blog post, we have explained which costs you have to pay and when. For the most part, pure care services are not prescribed by a doctor and are therefore unfortunately not covered by health insurance. We have also published three blog posts on the financing of uncovered services, the first of which you can read here. There are suitable supplementary insurance policies that at least cover part of the costs of care services. You can find more information on supplementary insurance and a comparison here.

The advantages of private Spitex care services

Whether in old age, illness or injury - the best place to be is in your own home. However, if you or your relatives are no longer able to manage the household yourself and no one else can help, then you need individual support. Private providers such as Spitex companies offer a wide range of services carried out by competent specialists. Medically prescribed services are covered by health insurance and therefore cost the same for both private and public providers. However, professional private Spitex companies such as SpitexCare not only offer a wider range of services, but also more flexibility. You can have a service package tailored to your personal needs, from just 30 minutes a day to 24-hour care, depending on your requirements. We have presented further advantages of private Spitex in this blog post.

Do you have any questions about care for the elderly, care for the sick or injured or the cost of care services? Simply contact us free of charge and without obligation using the button below or by phone:

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