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Background  It is most likely that the need for long-term care increases considerably in the next decades due to demographic shifts. Thus, we aimed at identifying the preferences for characteristics of professional long-term caregivers among old age individuals in Germany.    Methods  Data were gathered from a population-based survey of the German population aged 65 and above in 2015 (n = 1006).    Results  It was important for individuals in old age that long-term caregivers were ‘empathetic, kind’ (99.3%), ‘punctual, reliable’ (98.2%), have an ‘orderly appearance’ (96.4%), work in a ‘small team’ (92.5%) and have ‘enough time’ (91.5%). Moreover, while most of the individuals (76.5%) reported high preferences for ‘German language’, the preferences were lower for ‘same cultural background’ (54.2%) and ‘same gender’ (35.7%). In multiple logistic regressions, preferences for ‘same gender’ were positively associated with being female [OR 8.3 (5.6–12.1)], living with partner or spouse [OR 1.4 (1.0–1.9)], and being born abroad [OR 1.8 (1.1–3.1)]. Preferences for ‘German language’ were positively associated with being female [OR: 1.5 (1.1–2.1)]. Preferences for ‘same cultural background’ were positively associated with age [OR 1.0 (1.0–1.1)], living with partner or spouse [OR 1.4 (1.0–1.9)], and East Germany [OR 1.9 (1.3–2.7)]. Preferences for ‘orderly appearance’, ‘empathetic, kind’, ‘punctual, reliable’ and ‘small nursing team’ were all not significantly associated with included independent variables, whereas preferences for ‘enough time’ were positively associated with being female [OR 1.9 (1.1–3.5)], living with partner or spouse [OR 1.9 (1.1–3.4)], education [Apprenticeship, full-time vocational school, OR 3.1 (1.3–7.6)], not providing care for family/friends [OR 1.9 (1.1–3.3)], and involvement in the issue of need for care [OR 1.3 (1.1–1.6)].    Conclusions  Our data suggest that it is important to almost every individual aged 65 and above in Germany that professional long-term caregivers are (i) empathetic, kind, and understanding, (ii) punctual and reliable, (iii) have enough time (e.g., for conversation), (iv) and have an orderly appearance. Furthermore, several factors such as gender or region were found to be associated with preferences for characteristics of caregivers. By knowing these factors, nursing services can tailor their activities to the needs of care-recipients.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-017-2717-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

bmc research notes

Who should take care of me? Preferences of old age individuals for characteristics of professional long-term caregivers: an observational cross-sectional study