In Germany the differentiation between medical treatment and care is very strong. As part of the social system an statutory health insurance and an statutory care insurance exists. Each federal state fulfils the responsibility for the care infrastructure with another focus. Each federal state has it's own legislation, and mostly they have programs or initiatives dealing with care, which have different prioritises and key aspects.
The dominant driving force concerning care, elderly and IST is the demographic development. The number of people in need of care will enormously grow the next years. Current calculations prognose an increase from today two million people in need of care to three million people. This means a challenge for the social security, but also offers employment potentials in care profession. The family/informal care has the priority in Germany. The family is the biggest "care institution of the Nation". 72% of all people in need of care live at home. This fact meets with the demand of older people to live in their own environment as long as possible. This urges the empowering of family/informal carers. Home care should help to reduce the cost pressure and it meets much more the needs of older people than stationary care. It can be expected that the implementation of ICT in the frame of home care will be promoted much stronger in future, because new efficient care models could be realised this way. First best-practice models are available in other sectors of social work with older people and could influence also the field of home care . Nevertheless only very few indices regarding the implementation of ICT are to be found at the moment. There is no political strategy to empower family/informal carers by the use of ICT applications.
The use of ICT applications for people in need of care is hardly popular. The utility of ICT applications is hardly considered in laws, regulations or statements. The only financial provision for ICT in home care is given for social alarm systems. This financial supports are deducted directly between renders of the service and care insurance. The dominating market regulation factor concerning ICT in care is the care facility catalogue (because of the financial support), which is positioned in the care facility regulation of the Code of Social Law (SGB XI).
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