[Needs and quality of counseling in long-term care : User perspective on counseling services in Germany]

A wide range of counseling services with a variety of counseling purposes have been established in Germany to support care recipients and their relatives; however, there is a lack of quality criteria that are based on the counseling needs from the user's perspective.

To summarize empirical knowledge on counseling needs and quality of counseling services from the user perspective and identification of counseling-specific understanding of users.

A literature search was conducted in the databases CareLit®, LIVIVO and SpringerLink with additional online research via Google and MetaGer. Analysis of the literature and discussion on the state of research.

A trustful relationship between counselor and user as well as the orientation to the user's individual situation are key elements of counseling that have been found helpful; however, a differentiated view of the diverse user groups and counseling purposes is lacking.

In order to include the user's perspective in conceptual approaches for counseling and to define user-generated quality criteria, further scientific research is needed regarding the counseling needs of different user groups. Consideration must be given to particular care situations that involve various counseling purposes. Particularly vulnerable groups need special support in working out their counseling needs.