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Care services for elderly Muslims ,
The study entitled "Care services for elderly Muslims" enables for the first time a quantitative method to be applied to gaining insights into the perceptions of persons of Muslim faith regarding the topic of care services for elderly Muslims in Germany, a field in which there had previously been virtually no research.
The survey focuses on the assessments of people of Muslim faith with and without family members who are in need of long-term care, given that, in addition to those concerned, it is frequently the family environment which decides how to organise care services for the elderly.
Roughly one-third of respondents reported that they had already sought information with regard to care services for the elderly. Those individuals who had an individual in their family or social circle requiring long-term care were much more likely to have sought information on the topic of care services for the elderly than those to whom this did not apply. Having a knowledge of German, as well as being in regular contact with persons who have no migration background, makes it easier to gain access to information.
The vast majority of Muslim respondents would like to receive professional support when caring for their relatives. Having said that, only a minority of the respondents who have an individual in their family requiring long-term care take up such support. Whilst the level of devoutness of the respondent Muslims makes virtually no difference when it comes to obtaining information, it does play a major role when it comes to choosing specific support opportunities: Muslims who refer to themselves as devout very much more frequently prefer to take care of their relatives at home.
Finally, a majority of the Muslim respondents would like to see differences in religious or cultural needs being taken into consideration when planning care services for the elderly. This includes accommodating dietary rules, fundamental respect for the Muslim faith, as well as services being provided in their native languages. Having said that, the evaluation of the individual aspects does differ widely.
The project entitled "Muslim Life in Germany 2016" (MLD 2016) surveyed 2,045 Muslims from the regions of origin Iran, the Near East, North Africa, South Eastern Europe, South/South East Asia and Turkey.
Working Paper 75 was drawn up by the Research Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees on behalf of the German Islam Conference.
The study is only available in German.
The research report was drawn up by: Marieke Volkert und Rebekka Risch