Abstracts by key term: Langzeitpflege
Like many others - especially Western countries - the demographic age structure of the Federal Republic of Germany will change significantly in the next few years. According to the Federal Statistical Office (2006: 23), the number of people aged 65 to under 80 will increase from 12 million in 2005 to 13 million in 2050. At the same time, the number of older and very old people in society will also increase of people in need of care. This means that the question of supply requirements and needs is increasingly coming to the fore. Particular attention must be paid to the care of people with dementia (PwD), since dementia-related diseases are among the most serious and numerically most common diseases in old age and the prevalence of dementia-related diseases increases significantly with increasing age (Weyerer 2005: 7). It is currently estimated that there will be more than two million people with dementia in Germany by the year 2050 (Ziegler/Doblhammer 2009; German Alzheimer Society 2008; Bickel 2001; Bickel 2000). According to a press release from the Federal Statistical Office, the medical costs for dementia in Germany in 2008 were estimated at 9.4 billion euros. “In the case of dementia and depression alone, the costs increased during this period [from 2002 to 2008] by a total of 3.5 billion euros or 32 billion euros. Overall, medical costs have increased by 35.5 billion euros since 2002 (+ 16 %) and amounted to 254.3 billion euros in 2008.” (Federal Statistical Office 2010).