RTL Group | Cologne, 03/04/2025

People With Disabilities Help The Elderly

Vox will present the new documentary series “Herbstresidenz mit Tim Mälzer und André Dietz” from March 5.

Following the enormous success of the documentary series “Zum Schwarzwälder Hirsch – eine außergewöhnliche Küchencrew und Tim Mälzer”, which won a German Television Award in 2023, Vox is now launching an intergenerational project with the TV chef and actor André Dietz, known from the RTL Series “Alles was zählt”. In the new, four-episode documentary series “Herbstresidenz mit Tim Mälzer und André Dietz”, the pair delve into the lives of senior citizens in a Caritas nursing home in Bernkastel-Kues in Rhineland-Palatinate. People with disabilities are there to support the elderly and look after them lovingly. As part of the project, they can also qualify as everyday companions and thus find long-term employment outside of workshops for the disabled in the so-called primary labor market. The first episode of “Herbstresidenz” will air on Vox on Wednesday, March 5, in primetime at 8:15 p.m.; there more episodes will air on the following Wednesdays – and, after the launch date on March 5, will also be available on RTL+ seven days in advance. “Herbstresidenz” is also the Vox highlight in RTL Deutschland’s “Diversity Week”  from March 10-16.

Getting people with disabilities into the primary labor market

While André Dietz, already a protagonist in “Zum Schwarzwälder Hirsch”, focuses on people with disabilities and accompanies them during their training, Tim Mälzer focuses on the residents of the nursing home. What is the reality of life and everyday life for senior citizens? What should be improved – and how? And, above all: is it possible to change things in the long term, both for the people who provide care and for those who are dependent on care? For Tim Mälzer, one thing is certain: staying active, not losing your passions, and participation form the driving force for a happy life, even in a retirement home – and he contributes his personal expertise. One example: put an end to all-round care for the elderly and get them back to the stove. Indeed, the intergenerational project is developing into something very special –and may perhaps even become a model for other facilities.

According to Tim Mälzer, the idea for the new format resulted from the project “Zum Schwarzwälder Hirsch”, which generated very positive experiences with the inclusion of people with disabilities into the primary labor market. “Some of the protagonists at the time already expressed the wish to work as caregivers later. However, when it came to making placements, we quickly realized that no ground had been prepared for something like this. Conversations in the family circle about nursing homes and the rather negative attitude towards local accommodation that I sensed in some people were added,” says Mälzer, who, in his own words, tries to address social issues within the scope of his possibilities. “It is not my goal to just point out problems but also the create the attention for them and find solutions to problems in the best case. I believe that we must become a bit more functional and collaborative as a society again. And we can all contribute to this.” At the same time, he emphasizes that he is not interested in “care bashing” or pointing out what is missing or not working in nursing homes. “That would be unfair and not right,” says Tim Mälzer. “People there are usually doing a great job. My concern, above all, is to see how we can do it even better. How can we support and help the people who do everything in their power on site every day? How can we ensure that the work of nursing staff is viewed with greater appreciation again and is more satisfying for caregivers? Applauding them from the window, which we experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, certainly is not enough.”

“The most logical solution”

“Caregivers are giving their best each day, that was obvious from the very first moment,” reports André Dietz, whose daughter suffers from the rare Angelman syndrome, on his experiences with the “Herbstresidenz” project. “However, due to the lack of staff, many things still fall by the wayside – especially personal moments or conversations with the senior citizens. Medical care and hygiene are essential, and nurses have to make time for that. Unfortunately, things like walks, excursions, cooking and, above all, the closeness that you need in old age are usually lost.” For him, filling this care shortage with people with disabilities is a “no-brainer, and absolutely the most logical solution.”

Tobias Möllney of the Central Corporate Communications Division of the St. Raphael Caritas Alten- und Behindertenhilfe, one of the largest social service providers in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, draws a positive conclusion of the project. “Nine people with disabilities have successfully completed their training as everyday companions at the Altenzentrum St. Nikolaus retirement home and have been offered the opportunity to work at the facility beyond the project and help shape the transition to the primary labor market,” explains Möllney. Although the deployment of these additional employees did not reduce the staffing requirements at the facility, it relieved the nursing and care staff and supported the new house community concept. The implementation of the concept can be better achieved through the deployment of these employees. The renaming of the facility into “Caritashaus Herbstresidenz”, which took place on February 1, shows the close connection of the Altenzentrum St. Nikolaus nursing home with the project. In addition, based on the positive experiences at the Altenzentrum St. Nikolaus nursing home, another project was launched at the beginning of the year at the Altenzentrum St. Johannes nursing home in Mayen. “Eight employees with disabilities from our Caritas workshops are currently working here and are being trained and instructed at the adult training center at the Daun nursing school,” explains Tobias Möllney.

In the first episode of “Herbstresidenz”, Tim Mälzer moves into a nursing home on the Mosel River. The topic concerns him personally, because after his father’s death he wonders how his mother can be cared for in the future. Tim quickly realizes that the residents in the nursing home are lacking a meaningful task and joie de vivre – and he decides to change this. Together with actor André Dietz, he sets up the project: Ten people with cognitive impairments will be trained in care for the elderly and change the everyday lives of the nursing home residents. But it turns out that the senior citizens have reservations. Will the project fail before it has even really started?