[Activating help--aims and limits (author's transl)].

The publication attempts to analyze current work directed at aiding and encouraging aged people in the Federal Republic of Germany, seen from the viewpoint of the various welfare associations, and hense from a practical angle. The considerable contrast between aims, available knowledge, and realization, is made clear by discussing individual problem fields while presenting a catalog of relevant and necessary measures. The paper also describes the requirements training and continuing education, as well as the need for research based on practice and yielding results which are relevant in the everyday life of the aged.