The first thing an appraiser does is making an appointment to visit you at home, i.e. they cannot just appear at your door unannounced. If you have relatives or other caregivers, they should also be present for the interview. They can describe the situation to the evaluators and provide him/her with their opinion regarding the type, extent and place of support required. Keep in mind that on the day of the appointment, you need to have all your medical certificates and similar documents ready.
During their visit, the appraisers estimate how independent the patient can function in the following six areas:
- Mobility
- Mental and communication skills
- Behaviour and mental problems
- Self-sufficiency
- Independent treatment of illness or therapy-related requirements, such as independent and regular intake of medication
- Managing everyday life and social communications, e.g. whether the person can plan their day independently, how they can interact with other people or occupy themselves
Based on these points you will be assigned a "nursing care level" ("Pflegegrad"). There are five levels of care, from minor impairments of independence (nursing care level 1) to the heaviest Impairment of autonomy (nursing care level 5).
Once the appraiser's report is ready, the nursing care insurance will decide on your application, and their conclusion will be sent to you via post. If your application is rejected or the level of care is too low in your opinion, you can file an appeal within four weeks. On pflege.de you can learn more about the subject- but the information there is provided in German. You can also seek help from a nursing care support point nearby- to do so visit the bdb.zgp.de. online database.
With the "nursing degree calculator" on pflege.de you can calculate the nursing care degree you are likely to be assigned in advance (or even afterwards)- so you can quickly and easily find out if you are entitled to nursing care and if so, what level of care you are probably going to be assigned. The "nursing degree calculator" is only available in German.