Service Assistants in the Social and Health Care Sector
The number of young people without a school diploma is currently standing at around 8 percent of an age cohort across Germany each year. These young people are classified either as not mature enough for or unwilling to undergo vocational training, or as disenchanted with school.
The result is a lack of training in Germany, which creates substantial personal and social difficulties, not to mention economic costs. Many of these young people will not be able to earn their own living and will depend in the long term on the state’s social security systems. Meanwhile, the potential capacities of these young people will be wasted. Given mounting competition for apprenticeships and jobs, young people with only a poor school diploma or none at all, have little chance of being offered vocational training.
17 percent of 20- to 29-year-olds have no vocational qualification. There have been many different responses to the problem, but they often look like a not very promising maze of schemes.
At the same time, there is huge demand for simple assistance services in health and social services, such as fetch-and-carry services, companion services for visits to doctors, help with shopping, and attendance duties, etc., which are presently either not provided at all or carried out by overqualified personnel.
Such services could benefit older people, in particular, and, given the ongoing changes in the age structure of our society, their demand will grow.
Summary of service, assistance, and attendance occupations in education, care, and support
A synopsis of existing training opportunities for service, assistance, and attendance occupations in the health sector, which was commissioned by the Robert Bosch Stiftung and implemented by Professor Klie at the Center for Civil Society Development at Evangelische Fachhochschule Freiburg, showed that there are more than 900 activities of this kind targeting all age groups and varying considerably as regards conditions of eligibility, the duration and volume of training, and the related costs.
According to Professor Klie, current training opportunities do not take sufficient account either of labor market demand and conditions or of the needs of young people.
The result is a lack of training in Germany, which creates substantial personal and social difficulties, not to mention economic costs. Many of these young people will not be able to earn their own living and will depend in the long term on the state’s social security systems. Meanwhile, the potential capacities of these young people will be wasted. Given mounting competition for apprenticeships and jobs, young people with only a poor school diploma or none at all, have little chance of being offered vocational training.
17 percent of 20- to 29-year-olds have no vocational qualification. There have been many different responses to the problem, but they often look like a not very promising maze of schemes.
At the same time, there is huge demand for simple assistance services in health and social services, such as fetch-and-carry services, companion services for visits to doctors, help with shopping, and attendance duties, etc., which are presently either not provided at all or carried out by overqualified personnel.
Such services could benefit older people, in particular, and, given the ongoing changes in the age structure of our society, their demand will grow.
Summary of service, assistance, and attendance occupations in education, care, and support
A synopsis of existing training opportunities for service, assistance, and attendance occupations in the health sector, which was commissioned by the Robert Bosch Stiftung and implemented by Professor Klie at the Center for Civil Society Development at Evangelische Fachhochschule Freiburg, showed that there are more than 900 activities of this kind targeting all age groups and varying considerably as regards conditions of eligibility, the duration and volume of training, and the related costs.
According to Professor Klie, current training opportunities do not take sufficient account either of labor market demand and conditions or of the needs of young people.
In close cooperation with ten providers of nursing services and of assistance for the elderly and people with disabilities, the Robert Bosch Stiftung developed the vocational training offer "Service Assistants in the Social and Health Care Sector" for school leavers who have difficulties finding a vocational training position because of, among other things, their poor grades.
Through the model project, they receive the qualifications necessary to improve the service offer in hospitals, retirement homes, and assisted living facilities for people with disabilities as well as to more pleasantly shape the everyday lives of the residents and patients.
In this way, the model project addresses two needs: Young people need vocational training which caters to their needs, where people skills are more valuable than grades; the social and health care sectors hope they can receive noticeable support for their qualified staff and a quality improvement of the services in their institutions.
The goal is to give young people seemingly without a chance an opportunity to find employment in the regular labor market. During the two-year training, both practical as well as theoretical principles are taught. After successful completion, the employers guarantee employment for at least one year in order to afford the young people in the regular labor market a life free from welfare.
The Robert Bosch Stiftung’s many years of experience in the health sector, our active involvement in organizing vocational training in the nursing, medical, and social professions, and the partnerships and cooperative affiliations that have been established in this context are ideal prerequisites for successful development and implementation of training courses for “Service Assistants in the Social and Health Care Sector.”
Through the model project, they receive the qualifications necessary to improve the service offer in hospitals, retirement homes, and assisted living facilities for people with disabilities as well as to more pleasantly shape the everyday lives of the residents and patients.
In this way, the model project addresses two needs: Young people need vocational training which caters to their needs, where people skills are more valuable than grades; the social and health care sectors hope they can receive noticeable support for their qualified staff and a quality improvement of the services in their institutions.
The goal is to give young people seemingly without a chance an opportunity to find employment in the regular labor market. During the two-year training, both practical as well as theoretical principles are taught. After successful completion, the employers guarantee employment for at least one year in order to afford the young people in the regular labor market a life free from welfare.
The Robert Bosch Stiftung’s many years of experience in the health sector, our active involvement in organizing vocational training in the nursing, medical, and social professions, and the partnerships and cooperative affiliations that have been established in this context are ideal prerequisites for successful development and implementation of training courses for “Service Assistants in the Social and Health Care Sector.”