[Geriatrics and geriatric aspects in the German coalition agreement of 2021]

The proportion of older people in Germany is increasing. By the next federal election in 2025 the Federal Statistical Office of Germany expects that one third of the population will have reached retirement age. Older people are thus one of the largest voter groups and are particularly politically relevant.

How does the federal government support the living conditions of this voter group? What are the plans of the federal government regarding medical care of older people?

A content analysis of the coalition agreement was carried out with respect to aspects of demographic change, geriatric care and living conditions of older people. The coded text passages were categorized using a mixed inductive-deductive approach. Finally, the implementation progress of concrete projects after 1.5 years in office was evaluated.

This study identified and categorized 23 passages with just under 620 words (about 1% of the total text) in the coalition agreement. Of the passages nine were assigned to the topic older population, six passages to medical care and eight to nursing care. Of the 23 passages 14 contained concrete plans for action or target dates. In the first 1.5 years of the federal government, partial progress could be identified in 4 of these, while no projects were realized.

Overall, the coalition agreement shows an awareness for an ageing population. In view of the demographic development, however, few solutions are proposed for genuine geriatric aspects. The first year in office was strongly influenced by other topics, which resulted in unplanned laws and regulations and projects from the coalition agreement faded into the background.