Studying or working with relatives in need of care
Caring for others starts with caring for you.
For students
Students, too, may find themselves in a situation where they have to care for close relatives: this is the reality for 11% of HHN students. This group is therefore larger than that of students with children. Caring for others can become an enormous burden, which is why the HHN has specially trained support staff to provide assistance in such situations.
For personalised advice on planning your course of study, please contact the academic counseling service for your degree programme directly. It may also be helpful to speak to the programme coordinators for your degree programme.
For our employees
Dear colleagues, here you will also find an initial overview of the structures related to nursing care. Please also refer to the FAQ Care for our employees.
An overview of offers and information
- Parents, grandparents, and in-laws
- Spouses
- Life partners or partners in a marriage-like or civil partnership-like relationship
- Stepparents
- Siblings’ partners
- Partners’ siblings
- Siblings
- Children (including adopted or foster children of spouses or partners)
- Children-in-law and grandchildren
While caring for close relatives, you are entitled to up to 6 semesters of leave in a special form of leave of absence. Further information can be found here.
Our care navigators support those in need by providing information on key local services and resources, as well as by sharing their knowledge of local legal and regulatory frameworks. They offer information on internal resources designed to help balance work and family responsibilities and can assist individuals with the appropriate steps to take in specific situations. The trained care navigators who serve as points of contact for students are listed below:
To provide help and support to children, teenagers, and young adults who are caring for a family member, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth has developed the "Pausentaste" project. Those who help others sometimes need help themselves. On the website, you will find information and additional support services.
To cope with the emotional challenges associated with caregiving, you can seek guidance from our university chaplaincy or the psychosocial counseling services offered by the Studierendenwerk Heidelberg.
You can find the guide for people with mental health issues in the city and district of Heilbronn in the download section.
The CHE Center for Higher Education Development has published a short informational brochure on the topic of "Studium mit Pflegeverantwortung" (German)
Using the online calculator in the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Youth, and Social Affairs’ “Infotool Familie” portal, you can find out what benefits you are eligible for.
You can find a guide to living wills online.
Information on lasting powers of attorney and guardianship law can be found here.
A guardianship directive sets out who will look after you and how in an emergency. It serves to specify the details of the guardianship ordered by the court. The guardianship directive comes into effect if there are no trusted individuals available or if the trusted individual is to be subject to closer supervision by the guardianship court.
In the German Palliative Care Foundation’s advance care planning pack advance care planning pack, you will find information and forms for lasting powers of attorney and living wills, as well as other forms such as a care directive.
You can register with the Federal Chamber of Notaries (Bundesnotarkammer) to specify which powers of attorney are held where.
You can find a list of all care centres in Baden-Württemberg here.
