Securing care is one of the greatest social challenges of our time. Relatives in particular, who are responsible for care and nursing, urgently need support. Around 83 percent of people in need of care in the Ludwigsburg district are cared for at home, and in around 17.5 percent of cases, the person in need of care is also cared for by an outpatient service. "Caregiving relatives are often overburdened and often reach their physical and mental limits," said Silke Reich, Head of the Senior Citizens' Work and Care Division at the Ludwigsburg District Office.
"This is precisely where the PflegeAuszeit project offers a solution by developing alternative and flexible care options to enable plannable breaks from care," Reich continued.
Focus on the specific needs of those affected
Reich is implementing the project in Kornwestheim together with social worker Markus Graf and gerontologist Teresa Renier. As part of the project, individual short-term care models are being developed that are geared towards the specific needs of those affected. Establishing a relationship of trust plays a key role in encouraging relatives to make use of these services. The importance of information and support services is also emphasized. Family caregivers are given access to digital and analog platforms that enable advice, training and exchange and thus strengthen their ability to act.
Another central concern of the project is the creation of meeting spaces, both in the neighborhood and digitally, in order to raise awareness of the topic of caregiver leave in society. This is intended to promote the emergence of a caring community that actively supports family caregivers.
PflegeAuszeit follows the basic idea of ambulantization and promotes the concept of empowerment (self-empowerment) of caregiving relatives. Scientific monitoring of the project also plays a key role in order to document and further develop the results, explained Reich.
The first steps in implementing the PflegeAuszeit project have been taken
The project builds on the experience of its predecessor, PflegeFrei, which was also funded by the care innovation program of the state of Baden-Württemberg. PflegeFrei was completed last year with a positive response from the family caregivers involved, who are benefiting from the new care models. The challenges, particularly in the organization and planning of short-term care at home, are now to be solved in the further course of the project.
The "Pflege Auszeit" pilot project will run until February 2027 and will be scientifically evaluated by the Evangelische Hochschule Ludwigsburg. In the second year of the project, the ongoing processes will be regularly reviewed and adapted.
