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Care courses for caring relatives and carers when applying for care leave

To make it easier for you to care for relatives at home, you can attend free care courses and training sessions via your care insurance fund.

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Procedure details

If you care for relatives or would like to care for them at home on a voluntary basis, you can take part in courses and training provided by the long-term care insurance fund. You apply for participation to your long-term care insurance fund. The nursing care insurance fund is affiliated with your statutory health insurance fund, so you can use the same contact details.

The free courses provide you with the necessary knowledge and correct hand movements to carry out home care independently. They are designed to give you confidence in dealing with people in need of care.

There are 2 forms of care courses:

  • Group care courses
  • Care insurance companies and other institutions such as social welfare centres or adult education centres offer general, public courses for several participants. The courses can be held on site or online.
  • Care courses in the home
  • A professional comes to the home of the person in need of care and shows you on site, for example, how to lift properly. The training takes into account your spatial circumstances and individual situation.

In addition to basic courses, there are free special courses on certain illnesses, such as dementia, Parkinson's disease, stroke or the care of children in need of care. In the courses, you learn care measures that are geared to the specific clinical pictures.

The content of the courses is specified by the long-term care insurance fund. The contents are:

  • Practical care, for example, helpful hand movements, nutrition in old age or dealing with medicines
  • Self-care, for example back-friendly lifting and carrying, dealing with psychological stress, prevention and short-term care
  • Legal and social issues, for example the law on guardianship and what other help you can take advantage of.
  • Hygiene, for example help with personal hygiene and hygiene measures in the home environment of the person in need of care.

Participation in a nursing course is independent of whether or not

  • you are already working as a carer,
  • the person being cared for is in need of care in the sense of social care insurance,
  • you are already receiving outpatient care services and
  • you are a member of the social nursing care insurance.

In order for the costs of a home care training course to be covered, the person being cared for must be entitled to care. For home care training, you need the written consent of the person in need of care.

  • Required Documents

    As a rule, no documents are required. Please check with your long-term care insurance fund whether they require additional documents in individual cases.

You can apply for reimbursement of the costs of a care course by post, for example, and - in the case of many care insurance funds - hand it in personally at the office or submit it online.

  • Ask your long-term care insurance fund, a long-term care support centre or a local authority about long-term care courses.
  • Select a care course and book your participation directly via the organiser.
  • Download the form for participation in a care course from the website of your care insurance fund.
  • Fill in the form and send it to your long-term care insurance fund.

Some providers of nursing care courses settle the participation directly with the nursing care insurance funds. In this case, you do not need to submit a form to your long-term care insurance fund.

The application and also the participation in a nursing course or nursing training are free of charge for you.

You do not have to meet any deadlines.

The processing usually takes about 3 to 7 working days.
For a quick processing and decision, your long-term care insurance fund must be provided with the necessary information as well as any required documents in a complete and meaningful manner.
The long-term care insurance fund decides on applications promptly.
Please note that the processing time given is an average value for all long-term care insurance funds. It can deviate in individual cases.
The exact processing time also depends on the complexity of the individual case and may be longer accordingly. The same applies if documents or records are sent to you or your long-term care insurance fund by post.





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Status: 09.03.2025
Editorially responsible for prodecure description: Bundesministerium für Gesundheit
Source: Federal Portal