Multicultural homes

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The first generation of guest workers is reaching retirement age. At the end of January 2007, the first nursing home opened in Berlin, in which only Turkish seniors live.

"Türk Huzur Evi" means something like "Turkish house to feel good": golden crescent moon on the roof, prayer rooms facing Mecca, specially prepared food, signs in Turkish and German - these are just a few things that make Turkish citizens happy should beautify in old age. The nursing home is the project of a private clinic operator and the Turkish community in Berlin. It is the first and only Turkish care facility of its kind in Germany and is intended for people from Turkey who came to Germany as guest workers more than 40 years ago.

Million foreign seniors

From a purely statistical point of view, such institutions are necessary in the Germany of the future. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there were around 7.2 million foreigners living in Germany at the end of 2008. 1.7 million Turks lived in this country. According to a forecast by the German Center for Aging, around 1.3 million foreign seniors will spend their old age in Germany in 2010 and around 2.8 million in 2030. "We want people to find themselves in their familiar culture," says Nejla Kaba Retzlaff, the head of the Türk Huzur Evi in ​​an interview with .

"Age and care displaced"

Many of them are former guest workers and are chronically ill because they have worked in physically demanding jobs for years. At the same time, they only receive a small pension because their work was poorly paid and they paid into the pension insurance late.

In addition, they are only inadequately or not at all aware of their demands on the German long-term care and social security system, although there are corresponding information offers. "Many foreign senior citizens have long suppressed the issue of old age and care, just like the Germans," says Ralf Krause, managing director of the multicultural nursing home Haus am Sandberg in Duisburg.

Arrived but not arrived

Originally, the guest workers had come for a while and wanted to return to their home countries after a few years. Many will not return because contact has been lost over the years and the health care is better here. However, many older migrants have never arrived in German society. In contrast to their children and grandchildren, they have poor or no command of the German language even after decades and therefore prefer to stay with their compatriots.

How do you make yourself understood in a German nursing home? How to say what you want and what not? In addition to the language problems, many German nursing homes are denominational and therefore Christian. For older foreigners, for example from Muslim countries, life there would be difficult. Many migrant families reject German homes because they fear that their religious regulations or cultural customs will not be taken into account. In addition, it is taboo for many to place a relative in a nursing home, as parents play an important role in immigrant families. They are advisors and persons of respect.

Break structures

A taboo that is sometimes circumvented, but which the neighborhood should not notice immediately. "Very few of the foreign senior citizens from the immediate vicinity are with us," says Krause, "most of them come from far away." Overall, the family structures are slowly breaking open and a rethinking is taking place. Children and grandchildren want to live by Western standards and cannot (or do not want to) take care of their parents.

The employees at the Türk Huzur Evi are mostly of Turkish origin and speak both languages ​​- German and Turkish. They are specially trained for the needs of Muslim seniors. For example, the shame line of Muslim people is different from that of Germans. Men can only be cared for by men, women only by women. The cook must ensure that all dishes are prepared according to the prescriptions of the Koran. Nejla Kaba Retzlaff says: "It is simply not enough to just leave out the pork when eating." For the Friday prayer, a special room was created in the Türk Huzur Evi, which is oriented to the south-east. There are also all signs in Turkish and German.

Duisburg Lindenstrasse

The "Haus am Sandberg" in Duisburg shows that it doesn't necessarily have to be a purely Turkish retirement home and that the mixture can succeed. The facility was a pioneer for culturally sensitive care in Germany. Turkish, Tunisian, Dutch and German seniors have lived there under one roof since 1997. Managing director Krause says: "Multiculturalism is good, that brings pep into the place - basically it's like a big Lindenstrasse."

The staff comes from different countries and a Turkish cook ensures that the Muslim seniors are satisfied. Here, too, there are prayer rooms for Muslims and Christians. But that is not the decisive factor for Krause. In his opinion, a mosque or synagogue in the house is not a must. "It is much more important that there is awareness for the other."

Tags:  nourishment hospital menopause