Hannover – Stuttgart, Stuttgart – Hannover: A Familiar JourneyIris Winter knows the train route well. For five years, she has regularly traveled to Baden-Württemberg. The secretary at the REBIRTH Center for Translational Regenerative Medicine cares for her 98-year-old father near Stuttgart. “He lives at home but is quite frail,” she says. Her mother passed away in 2021, and until then, Iris also cared for her. Initially, she took the train almost every weekend; currently, she travels about once a month. The journey takes her approximately six and a half hours from door to door. “Caring intensively for a dependent relative is always very exhausting, even if they don’t live far away. But the distance makes everything even more challenging,” she explains. Fortunately, she receives support from the Family Service at MHH.

Much More Than Just Care

Many people think of caring for relatives in terms of assistance with dressing, personal hygiene, eating, and medication administration. However, it involves much more. “There’s organizing care services, dealing with insurance billing, communicating with doctors, purchasing care supplies, handling financial and insurance matters, and so on,” Iris lists, as she spends a lot of time on phone calls and paperwork. Added to this is the emotional burden: Is he doing well? Am I doing enough? The concern for her father is always present.

In the beginning, Iris used all her vacation days for trips to Stuttgart and even took unpaid leave. It was only when she learned from the family service about her entitlement to caregiving days, meaning time off, that her situation changed. “The staff also made me aware of additional offers for caregivers,” she explains. She attended a full-day course on “Caring for Relatives” and regularly participates in a “Support Group for Caregivers.” “Exchanging experiences with people in similar situations helps me a lot,” she says. Her boss, Professor Dr. Tobias Cantz, is aware of her personal situation and supports her, as does the personnel management team. “All of this contributes to relieving my stress,” says Iris Winter. For this year, she has resolved to actually use her vacation for her own rest and relaxation after a long time.

Text: Tina Götting