Caring with dignity. Acting with trust. Supporting digitally. The digital care diary records what the assessment cannot see on a single day.
The assessment by the Medical Service (MD, formerly MDK) usually lasts about an hour. In that hour, it is supposed to become clear how independent a person is over weeks. That goes wrong when the day goes well: many people with dementia are more alert and composed than usual when visitors are present, many of those affected play things down out of shame, and restlessness at night does not show at eleven in the morning.
A care diary is the counter-evidence. Over two to four weeks it records what you help with, how long it takes and how often it is needed. This turns “she actually manages fine” into a clear picture: got up three times at night, washing fully taken over, medication prepared and intake checked.
That is exactly what the assessment looks at. It does not ask about diagnoses but about independence in six areas.
Whether you keep it on paper or as a digital care diary makes no difference legally – both are accepted. The difference lies in the evaluation: a digital care diary calculates the module totals, shows where your records are thin and lets several relatives and the home care service write in the same record. If you would rather start on paper, you will find a printable template here.
| Module | What is assessed | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mobility Getting up, transferring, moving around the home, climbing stairs. | 10 % |
| 2 | Cognitive and communication skills Orientation, recognising people, everyday decisions, conversation. | 15% (together with module 3) |
| 3 | Behaviour and psychological problems Restlessness at night, resistance to care, anxiety, aggression. | 15% (together with module 2) |
| 4 | Self-care Washing, dressing, eating, drinking, using the toilet. The most heavily weighted module. | 40 % |
| 5 | Coping with illness- or therapy-related demands Medication, dressings, injections, doctor's visits, therapies. | 20 % |
| 6 | Organising everyday life and social contacts Structuring the day, keeping in touch with others, keeping busy. | 15 % |
Modules 2 and 3 share a weighting of 15 percent; only the higher of the two values counts. That is why the total is 100 and not 115 points.
The 40 percent for self-care is the lever. If you only write “helped with washing”, you give it away. What holds up is: “Upper body independently, lower body and feet fully taken over, 20 minutes, daily.” The difference between “partly” and “fully taken over” decides the points.
| Level | Total points | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Care level 1 | 12.5 to under 27 points | minor impairment of independence |
| Care level 2 | 27 to under 47.5 points | considerable impairment |
| Care level 3 | 47.5 to under 70 points | severe impairment |
| Care level 4 | 70 to under 90 points | most severe impairment |
| Care level 5 | 90 to 100 points | most severe impairment with special care requirements |
The point values are set out in § 15 SGB XI. Our care level calculator uses exactly these thresholds and shows you which module pulls your result up or down.
| Level | Care allowance § 37 SGB XI | In-kind care benefits § 36 SGB XI | Relief allowance § 45b SGB XI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Care level 1 | — | — | 131 € |
| Care level 2 | 347 € | 796 € | 131 € |
| Care level 3 | 599 € | 1.497 € | 131 € |
| Care level 4 | 800 € | 1.859 € | 131 € |
| Care level 5 | 990 € | 2.299 € | 131 € |
Monthly amounts, as of 2025. Care allowance and in-kind care benefits can be combined; the relief allowance is earmarked and is reimbursed, not paid out.
There are free care diary apps that store all data only on the phone, without registration and without advertising. If your situation looks like this, use one of them or our PDF template:
In that case a monthly fee cannot be justified, and we do not claim otherwise.
Nobody takes notes at night. Falls, smoke, an empty bed, an open door and room climate are measured and translated according to fixed rules into red – act now, yellow – check and grey – maintenance. Every alert is a dated entry that will count later in the assessment. How the traffic light works
Siblings, the home care service and you write in the same documentation and see the same things – from 80 kilometres away just as at the kitchen table. Data stored on only one device cannot do that. Caring from a distance
Created not in a software company but while caring for a relative 80 kilometres away, from care level 2 to 5. Hence the traffic light rather than columns of figures. The story behind it
No, it is not mandatory. The Medical Service carries out its assessment on a single day. A diary kept over two to four weeks shows what happened to go well or badly on that day – and it is the only document you can use to counter an assessment report.
At least two weeks, preferably four. Anything shorter looks like a snapshot; hardly anyone keeps it up for longer. What matters is completeness on the days you record, not the total duration.
What belongs in it: what someone can no longer do alone, how long the help takes and how often it is needed. Diagnoses and assumptions do not belong in it – the assessment looks at independence, not the illness.
Both are acceptable. The advantage of the app is the evaluation: you see which of the six modules is backed by evidence and where your records are thin. Take the printout with you to the appointment.
The correct term is Medical Service (MD). Until 2021, it was called MDK – Medizinischer Dienst der Krankenversicherung – and was attached to the health insurance funds. Since the MDK Reform Act, the Medical Services have been independent public-law bodies. The task is the same: they carry out assessments on behalf of the long-term care insurance fund under § 18 SGB XI. If you search for MDK, you mean the MD.
Yes. Several relatives and the home care service can document the same person. Someone living 80 kilometres away can see in the evening what happened during the day.
Care-Assistant keeps the care diary digitally: entries in seconds, evaluation according to the six modules of the assessment, report as a PDF for the long-term care insurance fund and the Medical Service (MD).
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