AD-NET-CARE - Adaptive support networks for older migrants

Outpatient and home care are among the care options most widely accepted by people in need of care. These forms of care are sustained by support networks. These include family members, doctors, care professionals, as well as friends and neighbours who support older people in everyday situations. International migration, work-related commuting, a lack of affordable and age-appropriate housing, financial and time pressures, and psychological strain mean that families often have to choose between ‘good care that is too expensive’ and ‘affordable care that is good enough’, with their decisions depending both on legal regulations and on the characteristics of their place of residence. Telemedicine and other technologies (Ambient Assisted Living, AAL) can be used as complementary forms of support in care. The project asks how older migrants and their families organise care, whether they expand their support networks to include migrant care workers, whether they have specific needs in relation to (tele)medicine/AAL (and, if so, whether these can be met), or whether they rely on transnational networks and on care or support abroad.

Comparatively little is known about how legal and institutional frameworks specifically influence the emergence, availability and configuration of support networks for older people with a migration history. In particular, the interactions between care policy, social support services and migrant or informal networks remain under-researched.

Research on digitalisation and technological support in care often focuses on older people in general. Less is known about how older people with a migration history and their relatives perceive, accept and actually use technologies, and which linguistic, cultural, social or economic factors play a role.

The aim is to examine adaptive support networks of older migrants in Germany as well as the role of technologies within these networks.

AD-NET-CARE uses expert interviews, narrative interviews and ethnographic case studies at the micro level and focuses on the everyday practices of older migrants in need of care (‘ageing in place’) and their support networks. The case studies were selected in two localities according to the principle of maximum variation. In Module 1, expert interviews were conducted with relevant informants from politics, academia, migrant organisations, health insurance providers, health and social care (professionals, social workers, care assessors, managers and executives), local authorities and service providers. In Module 2, narrative interviews are conducted with people in need of care and caregivers about everyday practices and support networks. Relevant documents are also analysed, for example municipal concepts for care and medical services for older migrants.

The growing number of older migrants in Germany face specific challenges in accessing home care and support services, resulting particularly from linguistic, bureaucratic and cultural barriers. The study’s findings show that older migrants frequently rely on family and community networks, especially for translation, emotional support and navigating complex administrative structures.

Informal carers combine direct support with digital tools, such as translation apps, to overcome access barriers. Although these practices demonstrate considerable resilience, they also reveal persistent inequalities in access to care. Professionals likewise rely on improvised strategies; however, their ability to provide culturally sensitive care is constrained by staff shortages, limited resources and structural discrimination.

Overall, the findings underscore the collective and relational character of bricolage: different actors compensate for systemic shortcomings in care provision through improvised action. While bricolage can foster autonomy and problem-solving capacity, it also points to structural deficiencies that encourage the normalisation of ad hoc solutions.