A basic guide to home care

Unlike inpatient care in a nursing home or hospital, outpatient care is provided at home. The caregiver provides medical or basic care services such as assistance with personal care (washing, showering, brushing teeth, cutting nails), eating and drinking, getting up, lying down or using the toilet. Only care services prescribed by a doctor are covered by health insurance.

Care by professionals

More complex medical care must be performed by a professional. This includes tasks such as intravenous drug administration, inserting and managing a catheter, looking after a stoma, special nutritional feeding and complex wound care.

In the field of professional care, there are three different types of outpatient care providers (source: Federal Statistical Office, 2020 (in German and French only):

Public Spitex public organizations with around 38,000 employees
Private Spitex organizations with around 11,500 employees
More than 1,000 freelance nurses

The range of services offered by each Spitex organization varies. You can find which one is right for you in our Spitex comparison.