Lifeworld-oriented care counselling for children in need of care and their families
Children in need of care and their families are under considerable health, psychological, organizational and social stress, which is often not taken into account in standard care counselling. This pilot project is testing an integrated, individually tailored counselling service that offers lifeworld and psychosocial support.
Researchteam
(Image: Heike Fischer)
To this end, the existing case management model for care counselling is being optimized by incorporating creative, coping-oriented and self-efficacy-enhancing methods. The target group is children in need of care and their families in Cologne, who often face complex care needs in a fragmented support landscape.
The central pillars of the pilot project are:
1. Knowledge transfer within the network:
There is great potential for innovation in the cross-sectoral collaboration of care counselling, early intervention services, self-help organizations, outpatient care services, psychosocial services, municipal services and social service providers. During the course of the project, networking events (meeting workshops, round tables, digital formats) will be used to create a neighbourhood-based map of the support landscape that can provide children in need of care and their families with flexible, highly tailored support that meets their needs.
2. Solution-oriented counselling in tandem:
Care advisors provide temporary advice together with social workers/educators from the cooperation partner Süße Zitronen e.V. While existing counselling formats focus primarily on providing information and coordinating services, especially those covered by SGB XI, the tandem model also addresses the legal frameworks relevant to children, such as SGB VIII (youth welfare) and SGB IX (integration assistance). Creative, coping-oriented and self-efficacy-promoting methods are incorporated into the counselling.
This way, family life is addressed, as well as the everyday and psychosocial challenges of domestic, family care that cannot be solved by SGB services alone.
3. Modular training for care counsellors:
The experiences gained from the tandems are incorporated into the development of training courses and material sets, making it easier for counsellors to access these methods. In order to relieve them and support them in finding solutions in complex counselling situations, instructions for the use of generative AI are being developed.
At a Glance
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Research project | Lifeworld-oriented care counseling: Methods and networking for relief and resilience for children in need of care and their families |
| Management | Prof. Dr. Isabel Zorn |
| Faculty | Faculty of Applied Social Sciences |
| Institute | Institute for Media Research and Media Education |
| Persons involved | Laura Blasius, B.A.; Johanna Krieser, M.A.; Britta Levering, Graduate Economist (Dipl. Volkswirtin) |
| Partners | Süße Zitronen e. V., ISIS e. V. (Institute for Supervision, Institutional Consulting, and Social Research) |
| Sponsors | Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of the State of NRW / State Associations of Nursing Care Insurance Funds in NRW / Association of Private Health Insurance e. V. in NRW |
| Duration | Dec 1, 2025 – Nov 30, 2028 |
The project is being scientifically evaluated by the Institute for Supervision, Institutional Consulting and Social Research (ISIS e.V.). A key objective is to examine the scalability of the results to nationwide standard care. The study focuses in particular on the effectiveness of tandem counselling and the benefits of digital tools.
(Image: Ministerium für Arbeit, Gesundheit und Soziales des Landes NRW)