Abstract

Multi-ethnic Health Care Teams in Elderly Care

Germany is an immigration country: around 19 percent of the total population has an immigrant background. All of these people live and work with local people. At the same time, the demographic structure has changed the development of a multi-cultural society. More and more people living for longer creates a tremendous need for auxiliary services to care for the elderly. This growing market already requires a large number of employees and is likely to require even more in the future. Teams provide permanent supervision and nursing care. Teams in residential care facilities are highly heterogeneous. In addition to age, qualification, scope of work, gender and professional experience, there are many differences in the origin of the caregivers. With a particular emphasis on ethnicity, this paper analyses the integration of those with an immigrant background in multi-ethnic care teams. The degree of integration varies considerably and different group-specific problems can emerge. Team performance can, under certain circumstances, be affected as a result.