The Most Frequently Asked Questions about 24-Hour Care

DESISLAVA VASILEVA Agency does not operate as a placement agency, but as a direct provider of 24-hour care. Thanks to our years of experience and many successful care assignments, we are able to offer numerous customer-friendly services at reasonable rates, despite not using middlemen. We take care of all the organisational and administrative tasks needed for a pleasant care arrangement.

In 24-hour home care, the caregiver lives together with the person in need of care in one household and provides support with everyday tasks. The caregiver not only handles basic care, but also takes care of the household and leisure activities – exactly how the care is structured is arranged individually.

The example monthly cost for a 24-hour care service including household management ranges from €2,400 to €3,000 per month, depending on the required services and language skills.
Costs are billed fairly, transparently and comprehensibly.
Second person in the household: an additional €150–250, depending on the level of care required.
Our monthly costs for 24-hour care include all social contributions: pension, health and insurance costs.
A double daily rate applies for services provided on the following public holidays:
1 January (New Year), Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, 24/25/26 December (Christmas)

The majority of our 24-hour caregivers speak German, although vocabulary and fluency can vary considerably. When choosing care assistance for a senior, you can select from different levels of language proficiency to find a caregiver who meets your requirements.
It is worth knowing, however, that communication doesn't have to work purely verbally, and everyday life can go wonderfully well even with a caregiver who speaks only a few words of German. What ultimately matters most here is the human connection, which counts for far more than language skills alone.

These include, as desired – personal hygiene, e.g. dressing and undressing, showering, bathing, shaving, applying skin cream, etc.
Shopping, preparing meals, serving food.
Senior care includes help around the house, such as washing, ironing and cleaning.
Structuring the daily routine as part of 24-hour care.
Leisure activities, such as reading aloud, walking, playing games, maintaining social contacts.
Accompaniment to doctor's appointments, official errands or hairdresser visits.
Preserving memories from the past – especially important for people with dementia, e.g. creating or looking through a photo book together, drawing a life tree.
Involving them in everyday life – especially important for people with dementia – by giving them simple tasks to do.

Most caregivers do not have medical training.
Under German law, 24-hour care is not classed as so-called specialist nursing care. This means that any services requiring medical or specialist nursing knowledge may not be carried out. For example, administering an insulin injection or changing a dressing prescribed by a doctor is not permitted.
If such services are required, we strongly recommend engaging an outpatient nursing service.

We plan the caregiver's journey together with you. This is either by coach to the nearest major city, where they are picked up, or by minibus directly to your door. We take care of booking the tickets and inform you of the arrival date, location and time as early as possible.
Travel costs for the round trip range from €150 to €300. If the caregiver lives in Germany, their transport costs are usually low. However, if they are travelling from, for example, Bulgaria to a part of Germany far to the west, the round-trip cost can be around €300. For long distances, we try to arrange a flight for the caregiver, so the estimated maximum cost is around €300 (round-trip flight).

24-hour care primarily means being available at all times for the person being cared for, or a family member in need of care. However, this doesn't mean the continuous, active performance of household tasks and care, support and assistance for seniors around the clock. Even the most dedicated caregiver cannot work non-stop, day and night. The period between 10pm and 6:30am is therefore on-call time, not an active night watch. Caregivers' weekly working time is 40 hours. During the week, they are entitled to a 2-hour break per day and one day off, or two free afternoons.

If the person being cared for and the caregiver don't get along harmoniously, please let us know early on. We will discuss the situation with you and try to mediate between everyone involved. If there is still no improvement, we will arrange a prompt change of caregiver.

It can of course happen that the person in need of care has to go to hospital for treatment – including longer-term therapy. In that case, you are of course free to either terminate the existing contract with two weeks' notice, or simply put it on hold for the time being. However, we hope for your understanding that, if the caregiver leaves for the duration of the hospital stay, we cannot guarantee that the same caregiver will be available again once the inpatient stay has ended. Alternative caregivers for elderly and senior care are, of course, always available.

If care dependency has been certified and a care level (Pflegegrad) has been granted, the care allowance (Pflegegeld) from the long-term care insurance fund can be used to reduce the cost of 24-hour care. Benefits offered by long-term care insurance for short-term care or respite care may also be available. Tax deductions may also be possible.

For questions, assistance and complaints, we're available at info@devasileva.de
If you have a complaint, please let us know the reason for it and the resulting request, along with any documentation or evidence, so that we can review the matter as quickly as possible. We will confirm receipt of your complaint within two business days and respond in writing, by email or post, within seven business days. Should any delays be unavoidable, we will inform you immediately. You may appeal our decision regarding your complaint within a period of 14 days.