Epidemiology of long-term care: prevalence and utilisation as well as the healthcare of long-term care recipients in Germany

Abstract

According to official statistics from the German long-term care insurance funds, around six out of every one hundred people with statutory health insurance are considered to be in need of long-term care. In this context, “need of long-term care” is defined according to the Eleventh Book of the Social Code (SGB XI) and therefore follows a demand-driven understanding of care, which also aligns with public discourse. In order to meet the increasing number of people in need of long term care – mostly caused by demographic change – with needs-based service structures, knowledge and evaluation of several factors are necessary: the prevalence of care dependency as defined by the SGB XI, the different degrees of severity, and the utilisation of long-term care and healthcare services. In this respect, the article presents findings and calculations based on currently available administrative data from German health and long-term care insurance funds and states its limitations. In terms of an actual epidemiological approach to the topic of long-term care, the aim should be broader reporting based on primary surveys.