Five new measures to improve care – 5 minutes

A competence centre will enable faster recognition of foreign qualifications of qualified nursing staff. A 15a agreement will create nationwide standards for social care professions and expand the skills of home helpers. “These measures show how important ongoing improvements are to us for employees, for those in need of care and their relatives,” emphasise the Minister of Social Affairs. John Rauch and ÖVP parliamentary group leader August Wöginger.

More and more older people

The number of older people is growing. This is accompanied by an increase in the need for care and nursing and qualified staff. In order to ensure a high-quality and affordable service for all those in need of care, the federal government has taken a number of measures in recent years – such as salary subsidies for nursing staff, a sixth week of vacation for employees aged 43 and over, a training subsidy of 600 euros and a nursing scholarship for those changing careers of at least 1,500 euros per month. Funding for 24-hour care and the family bonus have also been significantly increased. The measures have been secured for the long term in the financial equalization. The federal government is now presenting a new package of measures. It covers all areas of care and nursing – from qualified nursing staff to social care professions and 24-hour care to caring relatives. The following are planned:

• Nursing scholarship for career changers also available at universities of applied sciences
• Competence center for faster recognition of foreign professional qualifications
• nationwide standards and expanded competencies for social care professions
• Transparency in the billing of 24-hour care contracts
• Replacement care is also available on a daily basis

Social Minister Johannes Rauch: “Sick and elderly people and people with disabilities need very different types of support. The range of care and nursing services is therefore very diverse, with a wide variety of professional groups involved. With the new package of measures, we are continuing to improve conditions in all areas. After the two major care reforms, important next steps are now being taken to ensure that our services remain of a high quality.” The measures in detail:

Extension of the nursing scholarship to academic training

From September 2024, the nursing scholarship will also be available to those who are switching careers and are studying health and nursing at a university or technical college. Last year, over 7,000 people took advantage of the nursing scholarship and were thus financially secure during their training. The nursing scholarship is intended for people who are switching from an existing job to care and nursing and therefore have to forego their income during their training. The minimum amount this year is over 1,500 euros per month. It was previously possible for training as a nursing assistant, nursing assistant and in social care professions. For diploma training, the scholarship was previously only available at health and nursing schools. After this training expires, trainees at technical colleges will also receive a nursing scholarship in the future. They must meet the existing training guidelines of the AMS. An application can therefore be made at the earliest two years after completing the compulsory training or the Matura.

New competence center creates more efficient nostrification procedures

In Austria, the universities of applied sciences are responsible for the nostrification of foreign degrees of qualified health and nursing staff. In order to simplify and speed up the procedures, a competence center for nostrifications is being created. It will be the central contact and service point for applicants, employers and universities of applied sciences. The competence center will also support nursing staff if they are required to take supplementary examinations in order to have their degree recognized. The funding from the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF) for the required courses, examinations or training courses will be increased to up to 2,500 euros. This is intended to make it easier for foreign nursing staff to catch up on examinations. For qualified health and nursing staff, too, the equivalence of training will in future be assessed more holistically and not through a 1:1 comparison of subjects, since skills acquired through professional experience must also be taken into account. This makes nostrification more practice-oriented and suitable. The competence center supplements the nostrification database of the Ministry of Social Affairs, which has been online since May and provides sample reports for training courses in all three nursing professions from countries whose citizens most frequently work in Austria.

Uniform standards for social care professions

The job description, activities and training for social care professions are being further developed nationwide in a 15a agreement between the federal and state governments. The age limit for all social care professions is being lowered to 18 years. Until now, some young adults had to wait after their training before they were allowed to work as a professional or qualified social worker. The skills of home helpers are being expanded. In the future, they will be allowed to administer eye and ear drops or measure blood pressure, for example, and can thus support their clients even better. The states and the federal government have drawn up the agreement together; the next step will be a decision by the National Council.

Support for replacement care from day one

Caring for relatives is often extremely demanding, both mentally and physically. In future, caring relatives will therefore receive financial support for substitute care from day one. This means that caring relatives can, for example, “take one day off” a week. Previously, financial support was only possible for three consecutive days. The amount is a maximum of 1,200 to 2,500 euros per year, depending on the level of care. A maximum of four weeks per calendar year can be funded. In addition, the group of recipients will be expanded to include life partners, foster parents, and aunts and uncles. This means that far more people can take advantage of substitute care. In 2023, subsidies for substitute care were granted around 10,500 times, and in the first quarter of 2024, over 3,000 applications were already approved.

More transparency in personal care

In Austria, the care of people in need in private households is carried out almost exclusively by self-employed 24-hour carers. Around 34,000 personal carers work throughout Austria as part of the 24-hour funding model. Most of them are placed by agencies, which each conclude a contract with the person being cared for and their carer. A new regulation requires placement agencies to be more transparent. In future, they must provide a cost sheet when first contacting the customer and in their advertising material. The price of the placement activity, the services provided by the placement agency, including details of the costs incurred, the total costs and the payment terms must be stated. It is also mandatory to state whether the placement agency offers a debt collection authorization for the personal carers. In future, the agreement for a debt collection authorization must be recorded in writing and can be terminated at any time.

Videos as help

In the area of ​​24-hour care, an additional focus is to be placed on digital or online training. To this end, Gesundheit Österreich GmbH will be publishing videos on the information pages pflege.gv.at and gesundheit.gv.at in the coming days and weeks. These videos are intended to provide short and concise information on various topics, such as help with loss of consciousness, basic principles of mobilization, support after a fall, or nutrition and hygiene. The multilingual videos can increase the quality of 24-hour care, and family caregivers also benefit from the content. (APA, Red. 29.5)

A notice: This post was updated on 29.05.2024 at 14:34