Germany's Nursing Sector Advances Care Robots and Launches Nationwide Advocacy Campaign

Germany faces a growing number of people needing long‑term care, with projections of over 5.6 million dependent individuals by 2035 and a shortfall of up to 250,000 care workers by 2040. To alleviate staff shortages, experts are testing three types of care robots – assistive robots for tasks such as medication delivery and lifting, monitoring robots that track vital signs and remind users to drink or take medicines, and social robots that provide companionship and help reduce loneliness. The German Ethics Council stresses that robots should support, not replace, human caregivers, and research at the University of Siegen and the University of Oldenburg is exploring logistics, transport and physical‑assistance applications.

At the same time, the German Nursing Council (Deutscher Pflegerat) and its 25 member organisations have launched the #DeutschlandWelchePflegeWillstDu campaign. Beginning next week, the initiative will culminate in a demonstration on 11 November 2026 from the Federal Chancellery to the Federal Ministry of Health, followed by the German Nursing Day on 12‑13 November. Council president Christine Vogler highlighted the profession’s essential role for society and called for concrete political reforms to secure the future of care.