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Full closing report Altenpflege+ProPflege 2009: A look into the future of the care market

Bavarian Minister Haderthauer calls for more importance for “service to people”

Leading exhibition for 34,557* decision-makers and care staff

The European get-together for the care sector was held again in Nürnberg from 24-26 March 2009. Altenpflege+ProPflege, which took place for the 20th time, once again presented the leading exhibition for 34,557* decision-makers and care staff. The six halls were filled by 720* international exhibitors, who showed innovative products and services from all care segments. The annual highlight for the care sector was rounded off with highly topical congresses, forums for the various occupational groups and a varied supporting programme.

Ideas and concepts for the future of care were a special focus again in 2009. The organizers, Vincentz Network and NürnbergMesse, were satisfied with the results, which especially in the currently difficult economic situation confirmed their view that the exhibition is a “must event” for everyone wishing to influence the future of the care industry. 

“I am extremely pleased to have good news to report at times of global financial crisis: There are certainly sectors whose market potential is growing, and care is one of them. It is verifiably developing into one of the major economic factors and job motors of our time,” said Dr. Barbara Brune, Publishing Manager Elderly Care at Vincentz Network.

Altenpflege+ProPflege 2009 in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg offered two congresses for the first time: the Management Congress, which was intended specially for decision-makers from outpatient and inpatient elderly care, and the Nursing Care Congress, whose contents were designed for nursing care staff and management. The congresses as first-class information pools supplemented the exhibition with professional know-how and specific solutions. Some 1,600 people attended the congresses.

Satisfied comments from the exhibitors as well 

“We are extremely satisfied. Our expectations were exceeded on the very first day,” says a delighted Christian Städtler of Medifox. “The mood among the visitors was also really good. We noticed no sign of a crisis or recession; on the contrary, the customers attach great importance to profit-orientated planning at present.”

Alexander Vögele, Hiller Objektmöbel, also confirmed the positive result of the exhibition: “We noticed slightly less quantity in 2009, but distinctly better quality.” 

Günther Heil, Diakonie Neuendettelsau, is convinced that the elderly care market is largely unaffected by the economic crisis: “We had an extremely good response and many intensive talks. Altenpflege+ProPflege is an excellent platform for us, both for meeting practical experts and for networking. This year was our premiere as exhibitor and we will certainly come again.” 

Iris Christiansen, Dan Produkte, mainly mentioned the appreciably larger number of decision-makers in her summing up: “Many more decision-makers from providers came to our stand than two years ago and all the talks held were tangible.” 

The newly implemented job market received lots of praise. Georg Sigl, Pichlmayer, was pleased with the many inquiries from care assistants to home managers and expects a lot from the many talks.

One reason why Holger Senft of AnMed also summed up the event positively is probably the prominent visitor on his stand, where TV presenter Ulrich Meyer promoted a new medicine box. “We can say without hesitation that we are very satisfied with Altenpflege+ProPflege, in terms of both business and response,” sums up Senft. 

Sabine Wegmann, WIBU, stressed: “We had an extremely large crowd of visitors on the first day and the second day was also busier than in the past years. On the other hand, there were traditionally fewer visitors on our stand on the third day, but the exhibition conforms in general to my impression, namely that the sector is stable even during these difficult times. After all, elderly care is always needed,” said Wegmann. 

The exhibitors’ conclusion 

New contacts and good business are what exhibitors mainly expect from exhibiting. Altenpflege+ProPflege offered both again this year. 92 per cent of the exhibitors in the official survey said they had made new business connections at the exhibition. 96 per cent even reached their major target groups during the three days and nine out of ten exhibitors were satisfied with the overall success of their participation. The exhibitors at Altenpflege+ProPflege came from the following segments: nursing care, furnishings, services/facility management, information and communication technology, kitchen and home economics, therapy, textiles and clothing, technical literature, media, training, building services, organization/administration, and nutrition.

Highly qualified visitors 

As far as the composition of the visitors is concerned, the survey conducted by an independent market research company showed that 99 per cent of them were from the trade. They were particularly interested in the segments of nursing and therapy, media and training, and nutrition. The answers to the question of the visitors’ area of responsibility in their company also confirmed the exhibitors’ impression: 59 per cent of the visitors work in nursing care (2007: 63 %) and 19 per cent are members of business, corporate, works or home management – a higher figure than in Nürnberg two years ago (2007: 15 %). The visitors also work in administration (ten per cent) and in the kitchen and home economics segment (eight per cent). 76 per cent of the visitors said they are involved in procurement and purchasing decisions in their companies.

Bavaria’s Social Affairs Minister visited the exhibition 

Christine Haderthauer, Bavarian Minister of Employment, Social Affairs, Family and Women, expressed her delight at the innovative solutions and the versatility of the products after her visit to the exhibition. Ms Haderthauer also warned that more importance should generally be attached to working for people. “Those who work on a building site or production line earn more money than people working in the care sector. What is working for people worth to us?” Ultimately, everyone should be prepared to pay more. This is also an answer to the shortage of skilled staff in the sector.

The minister had nothing good to say about the Federal Ministry of Health’s transparency initiative during the exhibition, and confirmed her demand for revising the assessment system for quality reporting. It is absurd “that shortcomings detected can be compensated for by totally different assessment parameters,” said the minister. This only gives an impression of the desired transparency of the actual quality of an institution.

Presentation of awards at the exhibition 

The “Old People’s Home Future Award 2009” presented by the magazine Altenheim for the first time went to the “CBT Emmaus Residence” in Bonn. This home has set itself the target of providing better care for residents in their last phase of life and has introduced an integrated hospice concept. 

The “Altenpflege Award 2009” presented by the magazine Altenpflege went to the care team of the “St. Markus” old people’s centre in Hamburg. The team received the award worth 5,000 euros for their project for the development of a pain management system.

The “Quiet Hero 2008” is Hans-Hermann Mustermann. The caretaker at the “Christophorus House” old people’s and nursing home in Brake, Lower Saxony, was chosen by the readers of the Altenpflege magazine as this year’s clear winner from all eleven monthly winners in the Quiet Hero campaign. 

The award in the “lebens(t)räume” competition for students was presented for the fifth time at the exhibition as part of the “lebensräume” special show, which focused on “Future Care” this year. The competition was sponsored by Vincentz Network and NürnbergMesse and organized by International Forum Design GmbH. The jury was delighted with the 30 per cent growth in the number of international entries and awarded prize money totalling 5,750 euros to 15 papers. The competition focused on the issues of “leben.wohnen.arbeiten” (living and working) and the entries presented solutions for buildings, rooms, products and services based on the aspects of universal design and assisted living. The competition called for “design for all” and not just “design for the elderly”, i.e. suitable for all age groups. 

All the winners are presented on the iF website at www.ifdesign.de.

The “Architecture and Health Care Innovation Award” organized by the architecture journals AIT and XIA intelligenteArchitektur in cooperation with NürnbergMesse and Vincentz Network paid tribute to the manufacturers and designers of innovative products that emphasize the importance of architectural quality in the field of “health, welfare and living”. The key judging criteria were functional and design quality, genuineness of material and variety of possible applications. The “Architecture and Health Care Innovation Award 2009” went to KEUCO for its Plan b_free product, a washbasin and mirror. Many other awards were also presented.

The care market in figures 

There are currently 2.25 million people in need of care in Germany, and this figure will almost double by 2050 according to information from the German Economic Research Institute. In the same period, the number of full-time employees in the care sector is to treble to up to 1.6 million, which covers care management, highly qualified care personnel, registered care staff and care assistants. This demand clearly exceeds the number of new registered staff available in the future. 

Note the date! 

The next Altenpflege – The leading exhibition for the care sector – takes place on the Hanover exhibition grounds from 23 - 25 March 2010.

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