Here you can get information on who is entitled to home care services, what assistance can be received, and how to apply for home care services.

In what situation can I claim?

You can receive home care (personal care, practical help and meals service) if you are unable to carry out the personal and practical tasks in your own home:

• due to temporary or permanent physical or mental impairments;
• or special social problems.

What conditions do I need to meet?

If you are legally resident in Denmark, you are entitled to receive care. Legal residence comprises both temporary and permanent residence. Temporary residence means, for example, holiday or study residence, family visits, etc. Permanent residence in Denmark may be various situations in which foreign nationals live in Denmark and either work there or receive pension from the home country. It is not of vital importance whether the recipient is a Danish citizen or not to receive care under the Social Services Act.

You can receive home care if you:

• are legally resident in Denmark;
• cannot carry out personal and/or practical tasks in your own home and need help.

Please note that you can receive care regardless of whether you live alone, in your own home, in shared accommodation, in a care home/nursing home or in other forms of accommodation.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

You can apply to the municipality to receive home care service.

At borger.dk you can apply for help with the tasks you are unable to carry out yourself, if you have a temporary or permanent impairment of physical or mental function or special social problems.

An assessment officer from the local authority assesses whether you can receive help on the basis of your need.

The assessment officer is entitled to take into account if and to what extent a member of the common household, for example your spouse, can assist in performing everyday tasks, such as shopping and similar. You are entitled to receive help with the tasks you are unable to carry out yourself.

Prior to assessing the need for home care, the municipal council shall assess whether a brief and time-limited rehabilitation programme will be able to improve your functional capacity and thus reduce the need for home care.

You may among other things be entitled to:

• free choice of provider of personal help, practical help and meals service in your own home;
• flexible home care;
• replacement help;
• home care during your holiday in a different local authority area in Denmark.

1. Free choice of provider of personal and practical care

• The free choice of supplier in the area of home assistance means that the municipal council is obliged to establish the frameworks for recipients of personal and practical care and the meals service to be able to choose between at least two different suppliers whereof one can be a public supplier;
• A recipient of home care has the option of designating a person to provide the personal and practical care. The designated person has to be approved by the local authority, which employs and enters into a contract with the person concerned.

2. Flexible home care

• Persons who receive home care can choose completely or partially different assistance than that agreed upon. A granted benefit which is declined cannot subsequently be requested.

3. Replacement help

• If the assistance with personal care and practical assistance is cancelled, you are entitled to replacement help.

4. Home care on your holiday in a different local authority area in Denmark

• If you are entitled to long-term home care, you can contact the local authority for your place of residence if you wish to have home assistance for a limited period when you are staying in a different local authority area.

What does home assistance cost?

If the local authority has approved personal and/or practical care for you, the assistance is for free.

If the local authority has approved meals service, it is entitled to charge an amount for this service.

If you disagree with the local authority's decision on your need for home care, you can appeal within 4 weeks. When the local authority has received your appeal, it has 4 weeks to re-assess the decision.

If the local authority does not grant your appeal, your appeal will be forwarded to the National Social Appeals Board.

Forms you may need to fill in

You have to apply to receive home care by applying to your local authority.

Know your rights

At the links below you can get information about your legal rights. They do not refer to European Commission websites and therefore do not represent the views of the Commission:

• You can find the rules for home care in Chapter 16 of the Consolidation Act on Social Services.
• You can read about the rules for payment through the following links:

• Consolidation Act on payment for general measures and for measures concerning personal and practical assistance;
• Consolidation Act on Social Services.

European Commission publications and website:

• EU Social Security Coordination

Who do you need to contact?

Social- Bolig og Ældreministeriet (Ministry for Social Affairs, Housing and Senior Citizens)
Holmens Kanal 22
1060 København K
DENMARK
Tel. +45 33929300
E-mail: sm@sm.dk

Borger.dk
Phone +45 70101881.
Telephone answering hours are 8.30 am to 4 pm on Mondays to Thursdays and 8.30 am to 3.30 pm on Fridays

Find your municipality's Citizen Service and see contact details.