External Counseling for Family Caregivers

Telephone Counseling for Family Caregivers

Caring for a debilitated family member at home is a huge challenge – and for many people, the physical and emotional strain can become too much handle. Prevent a breakdown – before it’s too late. Our telephone counseling service is the answer to this call for help. We can support you in setting up a free hotline for the caregivers assisting your patients or policy holders. Qualified counselors can be there for you with set consultation hours.

Benefits at a Glance

With TÜV Rheinland there to help family caregivers through a crisis, you can:

  • Help family members solve their problems and strengthen their personal resources
  • Help reduce caregivers' personal stress - preventing depression, physical injury, and dwindling quality of life
  • Provide an outlet for anonymous communication - helping many people overcome their hesitation to discuss their problems
  • Create a basis for initial diagnoses - and a basis for solving given problems
  • Take advantage of transparent costs, because we clearly outline the scope and cost of our services
  • Ensure quality - with our continuous, internally and externally-supervised quality checks

Our Approach

Our project management works closely with you to define quality standards for psychosocial counseling. We also undertake the following responsibilities:

  • Selection of qualified counselors. They must have at least five years of experience in counseling or therapy. Excellent social and communication skills required.
  • Comprehensive introduction of caregivers to the concept of psychosocial counseling.
  • Conducting sessions at least once a month during the initial phase.
  • Supervising counselors regularly.
  • Providing further training for counselors - these sessions will allow counselors to share their experiences and voice concerns. Case review, supervision, and quality assurance will also be discussed.

Our Telephone Hotline

With our telephone hotline, you give your clients the opportunity to seek free counseling for psychosocial issues. The lines are open Monday to Friday, except on holidays, for an agreed-upon number of hours. Your clients can call whenever they feel the need to talk - even by appointment outside of normal operational hours. Regardless of where your clients are calling, we can be reached at the service number. Should a counselor not be available directly, caretakers are encouraged to leave a message in a secured voicemail account. The counselor will typically call back the same day - and at the very latest, within 24 hours. Appointments must be made over the phone during regular hours.

Reporting

You will receive semi-annual documentation of the extent of hotline use. The report also includes a detailed trend analysis of the counseling content. User anonymity is maintained. However, details, like call frequency and reasons for calling, can help you develop solutions to specific problems.