"Betreutes Wohnen" (supervised accommodation): between private and
institutionalised living
The term "supervised accommodation" does not define a form of
accommodation, but rather a principle of accommodation and supervision that
cancels the originally close connection between a certain form of accommodation
in an institution and the provision of supervision and care. In Germany, "supervised
accommodation" residences generally mean housing in small, independent and
more or less separate flats and common areas. In these residential homes,
supervisory and nursing care staff are organised by the establishment either
internally or externally. These provide their services depending on the
requirements and are paid accordingly ("Wahlservice" (service by
choice)). The rent for the flats often contains basic services such as emergency
call system, cleaning services, janitor service, which are paid in the form of a
lump sum and can then be freely made use of. In this point there is a parallel
to living in an institution. Also stationary old peoples' homes offer more and
more this form of housing and supervision. The affiliation to such an
establishment also means a large offer on common rooms and services like for
example library or leisure time programme.
"Supervised accommodation" belongs also to the group of the of the so
called alternative home forms. Here belong for example accommodation forms like
integrated accommodation, multiple generation accommodation and shared
accommodation. These differ from the "supervised accommodation" in
that they do not fall purely in the category of the old peoples' homes, but
attract consciously various age groups. The goal is to offer to people of
various generations and various needs for care the possibility of integration in
a community which to a varying degree practices communal living.
Extract from the German report (Stadelhofer, Ühlein, Körting) to Salomon
Project, see report TRANSNATIONAL REPORT ON ELDERLY PEOPLE CARE POLICIES 1999 at
http://www.lill-online.net/menus/D/report.htm
Source: Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (BMFSFJ) (Hrg.): Zweiter Altenbericht: Wohnen im Alter. Bonn, 1998.