Caritas pilot project – A wage for caring relatives – News

35 francs per hour: those who care for relatives should be compensated for their work in the future. According to clear criteria.

For many, it goes without saying: In order to enable the mother with dementia or the ill spouse to stay at home as long as possible, you take care of them yourself. This with great effort – and without pay. Around 600,000 people in Switzerland care for their relatives at home. A number that is likely to increase in the future: on the one hand, life expectancy is increasing, medicine is making progress and at the same time the need to stay at home as long as possible is growing.

“Compensate for the care of loved ones”

Caritas wants to change the fact that relatives care for their family members without being compensated for it. A pilot project is running in the canton of Lucerne, which will later be introduced throughout Switzerland.

Caritas employs caring relatives from the canton of Lucerne at an hourly wage of CHF 35 and also pays into the social security system. The care services provided are mainly billed via the responsible health insurance company. Project manager at Caritas is Tobias Holzgang. It’s about rewarding the care of loved ones: “Our basic idea is that part of the unpaid care work that many people in Switzerland do can be paid for. In this way, people in difficult situations can be supported in their household.»

Main goals: relief and recognition

In concrete terms, close relatives can be employed according to clear criteria. For example, only those who have the necessary time to care for relatives can be employed. Someone who is already employed full-time does not meet this criterion. The physical requirements for care must also be met. Paid care for a spouse, for example, is not possible if the person caring for you is no longer on your feet.

It would be possible for a daughter or son of a person in need of care to be able to reduce the workload.

In particular, the payment of Caritas should contribute to the relief and recognition of the caring relatives. Financially and in terms of time. Tobias Holzgang: “It would be possible for a son or daughter of a person in need of care to be able to reduce the workload by 20 percent thanks to this hourly wage.”

Legend:

According to project manager Tobias Holzgang, Caritas is starting the pilot project this week with ten caring relatives.

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To implement the project, Caritas works closely with nursing professionals. How many hours of care per week can be written down is determined together with the general practitioner. The relatives document the care. A qualified nurse visits them regularly and draws up a care plan with them. This ensures the quality of care.

Extension to other cantons planned

At first glance, the Caritas project sounds like competition to Spitex. But that’s not the case, says Tobias Holzgang. On the contrary, we want to work together. “Caritas can only do basic care with the relatives. If wound care, bandages or a more complicated treatment is required, then we work together with Spitex.” An attitude that care expert Iren Bischofberger from Spitex Switzerland also shares.

The Caritas project is currently limited to the canton of Lucerne. This week the first 10 employment contracts with caregiving relatives were signed. According to Tobias Holzgang, the aim is now to gain initial experience. “Later we would like to expand the project and offer the possibility of remuneration to other cantons.”