In December 2017 – this is the latest status – there were 14,480 approved inpatient care facilities under the eleventh Social Security Code (SGB XI). Three years ago, there were already more than 670,000 people living there who were or are in need of care. This was the result of the Federal Government’s answer to a minor question from the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, who also wanted to know how many people in need of care are now being cared for on an inpatient basis in nursing homes. At the end of June 2020, this figure was 731,000 people; in 2010, it was „only“ 620,249 (2015: 676,584), with the trend rising due to demographic change in society. This means that 25 percent of all 80-85 year-olds in Germany are already in need of care. SGB XI stipulates that outpatient care has priority over inpatient care, partly because many old people prefer to live at home in their own four walls. In order to do justice to all persons in need of care and support in old age, however, it requires the expansion of outpatient care structures and an increase in age-appropriate housing offers, reports the Federal Government. Because not only the persons concerned need help in everyday life with increasing numbers of people in need of care, but also their caring relatives. Of the 14,480 inpatient care facilities identified three years ago, 7,631 (52.7 percent) were run by non-profit organizations, 6,167 (42.6 percent) by the private sector and 682 (4.7 percent) by the public sector.
Source: Ärzteblatt