Two-thirds of residents in Schleswig-Holstein assess access to care as insufficient. According to a representative survey conducted by the Allensbach Institute for DAK-Gesundheit, 67 percent of respondents consider the situation inadequate. Every second surveyed person expects deterioration within the next ten years. The biggest problems cited by citizens are high costs and a shortage of medical personnel.

Critical Assessment of Care

67 percent of the state's residents rate access to care services as "not" or "definitely not" good, showing a deep crisis of trust.

Pessimistic Forecasts for the Future

Every second surveyed person (50 percent) expects a further deterioration of the situation in the care sector within the coming decade.

Main Causes of Problems

Residents primarily point to excessively high costs of using care and a serious shortage of qualified personnel.

Source of Research Data

The survey was commissioned by the health insurer DAK-Gesundheit and conducted by the renowned Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research.

Over two-thirds of residents in the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein express deep distrust in the care system. According to the latest representative survey, 67 percent of citizens rate the access and quality of care services as unsatisfactory or completely insufficient. This high rate of negative assessments illustrates the scale of the perceived crisis in one of the key social service sectors.

The German long-term care system (Pflegeversicherung) was introduced as the fifth pillar of social insurance in 1995. Its aim was to protect citizens from the financial consequences of needing care in old age or due to illness. This system has been facing demographic challenges, related to an aging society, and economic ones, such as rising costs and a shortage of labor, for years.

The pessimism of residents extends far into the future. As many as half of the respondents (50 percent) predict that the situation in the care sector will further deteriorate within the next ten years. Only a small percentage expects improvement. The study clearly points to two main sources of citizens' concerns. First, there are the high costs that burden families using institutional or home care. Second, a severe shortage of personnel is widely perceived, which directly affects the quality and availability of services.

Assessment of Care in Schleswig-Holstein: Rates negatively: 67, Expects deterioration: 50

The survey was conducted by the Allensbach Institute, a respected demoscopy institute, on behalf of the company DAK-Gesundheit, one of the leading health insurers in Germany. The publication of these survey results fits into the ongoing national debate on reforming the care system, which is one of the key socio-political topics. The state and federal authorities face the challenge of rebuilding citizens' trust and finding solutions for the structural problems in the sector, as indicated by public opinion.