Overview
- ARD’s Hart aber fair devoted its 3 November episode to long‑term care, featuring Andrea Sawatzki, Karl‑Josef Laumann, Eckart von Hirschhausen, Alzheimer advocate Rainer Heydenreich and provider representative Bernd Meurer.
- Sawatzki recounted caregiving experiences and alleged severe failings in some homes, including reused diapers, sedations and neglected feeding, reflecting widespread strain on families.
- Laumann rejected the portrayal of systemic breakdown, pointing to oversight mechanisms and tariff pay for care staff while asserting many facilities deliver very good care.
- Von Hirschhausen cited a 2025 advance: a plaque‑targeting dementia drug that can slow early‑stage progression but requires close monitoring and costs about €50,000 per patient, raising equity and rollout questions.
- Heydenreich described living openly with Alzheimer and preferring to avoid institutional care, as figures discussed on the show noted roughly nine in ten care‑dependent people in Germany are looked after at home.