Description
The ZQP advice database is a free, ad-free search for care advice services across Germany, including the Pflegestützpunkte, run by the Zentrum für Qualität in der Pflege, a non-profit foundation in Berlin.
People in need of care have a legal right to free care advice under section 7a of the German social code (SGB XI), but Pflegestützpunkte, the local care advice centres, don’t exist in every Land. The database lists them alongside advice centres of welfare associations and municipalities and other recognised services. Users choose a topic, such as care, housing, legal guardianship, self-help, dementia or complaints, and a language, and the search shows the ten nearest services; the map loads only after accepting Google Maps. ZQP says the database is updated regularly.
The ZQP was founded in 2009 by the association of private health insurers (PKV-Verband) and works as an operating foundation; it doesn’t fund third-party projects and doesn’t collect donations. It also publishes free, ad-free guides and short guides on care advice, materials for training, studies and lists of crisis and advice phone lines. Its page on care advice was last updated on 1 September 2026.
Strengths
- It finds independent, free advice services near a given address, rather than a care provider who wants to sell.
- It can filter by topic and by language of the advice.
- The database and the guides are free and ad-free.
Weaknesses
- It doesn’t give the number of services listed or the date of the last update.
- The map needs Google Maps to be accepted, which sends data to Google.
- The foundation was set up by the private health insurers’ association, and its pages don’t describe its ongoing funding.
Who it is for
People in Germany who suddenly have to organise care for a parent or partner, and want free, independent advice nearby before signing with a care service.
Sources
- ZQP: advice database, home, care advice, about us (checked November 2026)
- Gesetze im Internet: § 7a SGB XI Pflegeberatung