Advice and Support for Family Caregivers
- The platform for caring relatives of the Ministry of Social Affairs provides information on care allowance, care leave allowance, 24-hour care, nursing homes and other social services, dementia, insurance issues and financial matters in German. Here you can find information on the most important topics regarding care in English.
- The Interessengemeinschaft pflegender Angehöriger (Interest Group of Caregiving Relatives, web page in German) campaigns throughout Austria to improve the living situation of caregiving relatives. On their homepage you may find information and links on topics related to care, financial and legal issues, care facilities, social services, aids, and much more.
- Advice for caring relatives is offered by the "Health and Care" Department of the Chamber of Labor Tyrol, including on issues such as home accommodation, 24-hour care and care allowance (in German only).
- The ISD Sozialservice provides information about all services offered by the Innsbruck Social Services (German only).
- You will get advice, information and support at the Caritas Tyrol's Specialist Center for Caring Relatives (Fachstelle für Pflegende Angehörige der Caritas Tirol (German only).
- The Caritas Dementia Service Center supports people with dementia, their relatives or all caring relatives, among other things, through counseling, information and educational offers as well as a relatives' café and a self-help group for people with memory problems (web page only available in German).
- Case management by the health insurance providers offers help in developing needs-based and individual support after a serious illness/accident (both web pages in German only): Case Management BVAEB, Case Management ÖGK
- Click here for the Hotline of the Tiroler Hospizgemeinschaft (information on the website in German, consultation also possible in other languages, if necessary involving an interpreter.)
- Students can turn to the Social Department of the ÖH Innsbruck (information on the web page provided in German, consultation also possible in English).
- In the Tyrolean municipalities, the “Sozial- and Gesundheitssprengel” (social and health care districts/sections) will help you. Here you can find a list of those departments.
- The Dementia Coordination Center Tyrol (Koordinationsstelle Demenz Tirol), offers information for affected persons, relatives and professionals (German only).
- The Caritas Tirol Dementia Service Center (German only) offers dementia counseling as well as self-help groups, training for relatives, a relatives' café and a supported self-help group for people with memory problems.
- Volkshilfe Tirol offers mobile dementia care and consultation hours for people with dementia, relatives and interested parties in Innsbruck (German only).
- Initiative Demenz braucht Kompetenz of the Tirol Kliniken (web page in German)
- Association licht.blicke - demenz.hilfe.tirol
- Information on the living will (German only)
The new Erwachsenenschutzgesetz came into force in 2018 and replaces the previous law on guardians. The so-called "trustees" became the "adult representatives". The focus lies on the people affected and the preservation of their autonomy, self-determination and freedom of decision for as long as possible.
The Platform of the Koordinationsstelle Demenz provides a good overview of the four new forms of representation (German only):
Interaction and Networking for Caregiving Relatives
On the website of Selbsthilfe Tirol (German) you can search for self-help groups in your area. If you would like to exchange ideas with other affected persons, in Innsbruck, for instance, the following offers are available:
- The Caritas Dementia Service Center offers a Dementia Relatives Café as well as a supported self-help group for people with memory problems (web page in German).
- Memory self-help group for caring relatives of people with dementia: Information on the website of Selbsthilfe Tirol (keyword dementia, website in German)
- Jonny-Café organized by Johanniter Tirol (German)
- Mourning groups of the Tiroler Hospizgemeinschaft (Information on the website in German, consultation also possible in other languages, if necessary involving an interpreter.
- Neighbourhood center "Nachbarn helfen Nachbarn": a project of the ISD and the Vinzenz Communities.