The central topic of the department is the informal care provided within families in private households . This form of care is predominant in Germany and Europe (Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis) 2022, European Commission 2021).
By incorporating pluralistic methods and specialist disciplines, we identify heterogeneous, individual needs and living situations in domestic care arrangements as well as recurring, typical need scenarios.
A further focus of our work lies in capturing and analysing existing and new data sources in the field of ageing, care and digitalisation, in particular secondary analyses of large-scale population surveys and routine data from care and pension insurance.
In addition, we are investigating the individual and social aspects of (non-)utilisation of support servicesand how socio-economic, socio-psychological and socio-cultural factors promote certain forms of support or tend to lead to their rejection.
Our guiding principle is to focus on the actual needs of the target groups for digital technologies in the area of ageing and care, which are often characterised by a technology-driven approach (see Braeseke et al. 2022; Kricheldorff 2020; Hoff and Pottharst 2023; Sala-González et al. 2021; Künemund 2015; Elsbernd et al. 2014). In this context, we also specialise in the social and psychological prerequisites for digitalisation.
Transferring our research results into practice (e.g. software and app development, advice centres), politics and society can contribute to the further development of all forms and the suitability of support services for informal care that focuses on the target group.
Literature
Braeseke, G., Pflug, C., Lingott, N. & Pörschmann-Schreiber, U. (2022): Technische Assistenzsysteme in der pflegerischen Versorgung. In E.-W. Luthe, S. V. Müller & I. Schiering (ed.), Gesundheit. Politik - Gesellschaft - Wirtschaft. Assistive Technologien im Sozial- und Gesundheitssektor (pp. 649–667). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
Elsbernd, A., Lehmeyer, S., Schilling, U., Warendorf, K. & Wu, J. (2014). Bedarfsgerechte technikgestützte Pflege in Baden-Württemberg - Technologien und Dienstleistungen für ein selbstbestimmtes Leben im Alter: Final report August 2014 Esslingen University.
European Commission (ed.). (2021). 2021 Long-Term Care Report: Trends, challenges and opportunities in an ageing society. Joint Report prepared by the Social Protection Committee (SPC) and the European Commission (DG EMPL) (Vol.1). Luxembourg.
Hoff, A. & Pottharst, B. (2023). The role of assistive technologies in home care delivery in Germany: between vision and reality. In K. Hamblin & M. Lariviere (ed.), Sustainable care. Care technologies for ageing societies: An international comparison (pp. 72–97). Policy Press.
Kricheldorff, C. (2020). Die Rolle von digitalen Technologien zur Unterstützung von Angehörigen pflegebedürftiger älterer Menschen: Expertise zum Achten Altersbericht der Bundesregierung. Berlin. Deutsches Zentrum für Altersfragen.
Künemund, H. (2015). Chancen und Herausforderungen assistiver Technik: Nutzerbedarfe und Technikakzeptanz im Alter. Technikfolgenabschätzung - Theorie und Praxis, 24(2), 28–35.
Sala-González, M., Pérez-Jover, V., Guilabert, M. & Mira, J. J. (2021). Mobile apps for helping informal caregivers: a systematic review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(4), 1–18.
Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis) (ed.). (2022). Pflegestatistik. Pflege im Rahmen der Pflegeversicherung: Deutschlandergebnisse. 2021.
