Find care: which care suits your situation?
You can start a request straight away or compare the options first. You do not need to know the technical terms yet.
Acceptance is not guaranteed – each provider decides for itself.
Compare types of care: what matters to you right now?
Choose a situation – the choice highlights types of care you could look at. The comparison helps you find your way and does not replace individual care advice.
Find a home care service
- Situation
- Staying at home
- Where
- In your own home, at agreed times
- Meant for
- Support with personal care, medication or individual tasks in daily life, for example. You clarify with the provider which services are possible.
- Not included
- No round-the-clock care: the service comes for agreed visits.
What a home care service can take on Request a home care service
Find day care
- Situation
- Staying at home, Care for a limited time
- Where
- In a facility during the day or at night, otherwise at home
- Meant for
- Day or night care: care for part of the day or at night. The rest of the time the person continues to live at home.
- Not included
- No place to live: you clarify days, times and transport with the facility.
Find short-term care
- Situation
- Care for a limited time
- Where
- In a care facility, for a limited period
- Meant for
- Temporary inpatient care, for example when care at home does not yet work after a hospital stay.
- Not included
- No permanent accommodation: the stay is limited in time.
Find a care home place
- Situation
- Living differently for good
- Where
- In a care facility, for good
- Meant for
- Permanent care and support in a facility when care at home is not enough or not wanted.
- Not included
- Not a short transition – that is what short-term care is for.
Understanding care homes and how to choose Request a care home place
Find assisted living
- Situation
- Living differently for good
- Where
- In a flat with support services or a shared flat with outpatient care
- Meant for
- Living with support as agreed; the care is provided by a home care service. What is included differs from offer to offer.
- Not included
- No flats arranged: Pflege Patienten helps you find the care where the person lives.
Find intensive care
- Situation
- Staying at home, Living differently for good
- Where
- At home, in a residential unit or in a facility
- Meant for
- Specialised support with a particularly high medical need for care, for example with ventilation.
- Not included
- No medical decision: the requirements are clarified professionally with those involved.
Are you arranging care for relatives?
Write down together what support is missing and who may accompany the request. You do not need to know every detail the first time you look at the website.
You may post a request for a relative if you are allowed to represent them – for example with a lasting power of attorney – or if they ask you to. You confirm this with a tick in the portal.
How a request works
Choose type of care and place
The care request assistant shows whether participating providers can be reached at your place.
Describe the need
Where and from when, which help is needed and a few words about the situation – in the protected portal with a free account.
Check the responses
Matching providers express interest or ask questions. You decide with whom you agree the care.
Who sees your request
Only registered home care services and care providers whose catchment area matches and who offer the chosen type of care. They see the request pseudonymised – without name, address or date of birth.
A provider only sees your phone number and email address once you have selected it.
Other ways to the right care
If no matching providers take part in your region yet, there will be no responses. You can also call home care services and care providers directly and get advice from a local care advice centre or your long-term care insurance fund. If the person is in hospital, the hospital's social services can help. Local advice and search options are brought together on our regional pages.
Pflege Patienten is not an emergency service. In an emergency dial 112; outside surgery hours call the medical on-call service on 116 117.
Questions from private individuals
What does a request cost private individuals?
Posting is free of charge – registering and posting a request cost private individuals nothing at Pflege Patienten. This only concerns the platform: what the care itself costs and which services your long-term care insurance fund (Pflegekasse) or health insurance fund covers is something you clarify with the care provider and with your fund.
What happens if no care provider in my region takes part yet?
Pflege Patienten is organised regionally. If no matching home care services or care providers are registered for the place you entered yet, nobody is notified of your request and you will not receive any responses. In that case, contact care providers near you directly at the same time, or a local care advice service, for example a care support centre or your long-term care insurance fund. The page 'Regional participation' shows the current status. Whether participating providers can be reached at your place is shown by the care request assistant, before you create an account.
Which type of care do I choose if I am unsure?
Choose the type that comes closest to the situation and describe the care need in your own words. A request covers exactly one type of care; care providers only receive a request if their offer fits this type. You can change the type of care when editing – services that do not fit the new type are dropped. A care advice service, for example at a care support centre or your long-term care insurance fund, can help you choose.
Is care guaranteed?
No. The platform makes requests and responses possible. Whether a care provider can take on the care depends on its capacity and on the specific agreement.
You can also choose the right type of care in the care request assistant.
Free of charge for private individuals. The care request assistant guides you through the request step by step.
Post a care need: all types of care Working in care? Refer patients