The foundation stone for the establishment of care support centers in Baden-Württemberg was laid by the Ministry of Social Affairs in 2011. The implementation in the district of Ludwigsburg in the spring of the same year provided for two care support points for the district of Ludwigsburg. Specifically, a care support point was set up in the Ludwigsburg district office and a "cities" care support point was set up from the merger of the cities of Bietigheim-Bissingen, Ditzingen, Gerlingen, Korntal-Münchingen and Ludwigsburg with local advice options. As there were already so-called advice centers for older people and their relatives or IAV centers (information, contact and referral centers), these were developed into care support points.
The establishment of the PSP network made it possible to bundle the work of the individual advice centers. A change in the law ultimately led to the expansion of the locations and current organizational structure of the care support points in the Ludwigsburg district. The offices are financed by the health and care insurance companies, the district of Ludwigsburg and the towns of Bietigheim-Bissingen and Ludwigsburg.
A total of 14 employees are currently available at five locations to provide citizens in the district with advice and information on the organization and financing of care and support. Additional consultation hours are also offered in individual communities.
"As demand will continue to rise in the coming years due to demographic developments alone, this is only an interim step in the further expansion of a needs-based advisory service," says Heiner Pfrommer, Head of Social Affairs.
The central task of the care support centers is to provide neutral, free and confidential advice to people in need of care of all ages, people with disabilities or mental illnesses and their relatives. Advice can be given by telephone, in person at the care support point office or in the home. In addition to providing information about support services close to home, the staff also offer help in clarifying cost issues for care, medical and social services. If necessary, an individual assistance plan is drawn up for each case or individual assistance is coordinated. In addition, further interesting and helpful information on the subject of care and support can be found on the district's website at https://www.landkreis-ludwigsburg.de/pflegestuetzpunkte/.
