Problem area of care for relatives

‘Specifica’ are services by swissmedlaw™ for the benefit of the clientele that are not necessarley legal services in a technical sense, but nevertheless have a curative effect. This includes, among others, offers to support the care of relatives, care and nursing management and the provision of legal opinions, esp. in the areas of data protection as well as child and adult protection law (KES); as well as the procurement of medical expert opinions. Our offers of advice and support for spouses and direct descendants of family members in need of assistance should be emphasized here, because family care, with around 80 million hours spent annually on the care and nursing of close relatives and with an estimated monetary value of around CHF 3.7 billion per year, is a significant economic factor. Nevertheless, relative care is treated neglectful in some respects by both the cantonal authorities and the federal government. The factual and legal problem areas and issues that often arise include, in particular:

• Payment for intrafamily care services;
• Social security benefits for relative care;
• As the proportion of age-related dementias increases, the main burden on family members is also shifting from actual nursing to general care services. The difference here is that the former are collectively funded and the latter are privately funded.
• Furthermore, despite all the goodwill and commitment, the time and availability of relatives is often not enough – so outside caregivers must be called in. The selection, administration, and time and quality management of these individuals can quickly become an unreasonable burden if not performed by experienced individuals.