Funding for a comparison of long-term care in Germany and the Netherlands

The Social Pedagogy work group at the JGU Institute of Education will examine, among other things, how care is provided in these households, how the desires, preferences, and needs of elderly persons in need of care are accounted for, and what care quality emerges in these arrangements. By looking at Germany and the Netherlands, the researchers will compare two countries with very different long-term care regimes and traditions. While old-age care in Germany is very much a family responsibility, in the Netherlands it is framed as a responsibility of the state.

"Given the social challenges caused by the growing demand for long-term elderly care and the lack of appropriate political responses, the research project will be of great significance both socially and politically," said Professor Cornelia Schweppe, head of the research project at the Mainz University. "We have known for a long time that care in private households, whether by family members and/or ambulatory care services, is by no means always 'good care'. The question of care quality in this rapidly expanding care arrangements is thus of high socio-political significance," stated Vincent Horn, research associate in Schweppe's research team.

The research project "Development and Significance of Transnational Elderly Care Arrangements" has been approved for three years and will be carried out in cooperation with Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The project is financed by the German Research Foundation and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) as part of the Open Research Area (ORA) program.

REHACARE.com; Source: Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU)