The Korian Foundation Award

THE STORY BEHIND THE AWARD



Germany is a diverse, open country in which human dignity has the highest priority and respect for it is the first article of the Grundgesetz (German Constitution). No distinction is made according to gender, nationality, skin colour, age, sexual orientation, religion, culture, whether with or without a disability. Everyone is equal by law and that is how it should be.

At the same time, this diversity also means responsibility and a challenge, namely, to deal with differences in a way that does not exclude but includes. That people are not being discriminated against, but accepted and respected. That people are not categorized or stereotyped, but openly deal with each other.

A real task that not enough companies, organisations and institutions have taken on yet. A mission, however, that is necessary, after all, 20 per cent of the people living in Germany have a migration background. 

Statistically recording people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or queer (LGBTIQ) is much more difficult. Focusing only on the number of same-sex couples, there were a total of 52,000 marriages in 2019. 

Diversity in the world of work is often given a lot of attention, but it is only lip service instead of real engagement with socially lived reality. This makes it all the more important that sectors of the economy such as the care sector, where communication, human needs and care are at stake on a daily basis, are sufficiently trained and sensitized to create a respectful and appreciative environment that is beneficial to both care staff and those in need of care. 

The Korian Foundation for Care and Ageing with Dignity therefore announces the German Care Award for "Diversity and Respect in Care", which honors and publicly recognizes those care institutions that are already positioned in a diversity-sensitive way or have started on the path. At the same time, the foundation wants to use the prize to encourage companies and institutions to take this important and necessary step. Diversity-sensitive competence works in many directions: Within the personnel structure as well as in dealing with people in need of care and their relatives.