[Self-responsibility as a component of quality-oriented care-reflections on further development of nursing care insurance].

Further development of nursing care insurance must consider both ethical aspects and scarcity of resources. An economy that serves human life has two principal targets: safeguarding the basis of existence and extension of the fulfillment of life. From an ethical perspective welfare and personal responsibility have to be equilibrated by promoting individuality and self-responsibility and maintaining relatives' willingness to become a caregiver. Discussing the role of prevention and rehabilitation in nursing care it is argued that the legally committed primacy of prevention and rehabilitation over care has still not been put into practise due to unresolved problems at the interface of health insurance and nursing care insurance as well as at the interface of inpatient and outpatient providers. Moreover, it seems necessary to strengthen prevention and rehabilitation in the context of care. A comprehensive understanding of individual demands for help, support, and care requires a revision of the common definition of need for care in terms of activities of daily living which neglects particularly psycho-social needs. Case management is a suitable approach to provide adequate and coordinated support as a prerequisite for quality of life in people in need for care. Overcoming compartmentalization of inpatient and outpatient sectors and crosslinking of services are described as essential challenges for future provision of nursing care insurance. Intensification of counseling and advice for patients and relatives, extension and diversification of local providers, upgrading of ambulant services, daily care and short-term care, diversification of nursing homes and other housing arrangements, further development of hospices and palliative care, and acceptance of institutions for the elderly as indispensable components of the future care system are discussed as specific tasks in the further development of nursing care insurance.