Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Selbsthilfe

The Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Selbsthilfe von Menschen mit Behinderung, chronischer Erkrankung und ihren Angehörigen e.V. (BAG SELBSTHILFE) is the umbrella organisation of self-help associations for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses and their relatives in Germany. Founded on 5 October 1967 under the name Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Hilfe für Behinderte, it now brings together around 120 nationwide self-help organisations and represents more than one million people. Its registered office is in Düsseldorf, where its office is led by Federal Managing Director Dr. Martin Danner. The association is politically and denominationally independent and is a member of the German Disability Council (Deutscher Behindertenrat). BAG SELBSTHILFE sees itself as an advocacy platform for its member organisations vis-à-vis government, parliament, European authorities and social groups. It analyses gaps in care, discusses innovative solutions and develops political demands. Its guiding principles are self-determination and self-representation, and it works for the full inclusion and participation of people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. As the umbrella organisation of health-related self-help, it coordinates the delegation of patient representatives to the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) and quality-assurance bodies at IQTIG. Beyond political advocacy, BAG SELBSTHILFE provides practical information for those affected, from contacts at health insurers and other institutions to application procedures and forms. It publishes numerous individual brochures on various illnesses and on the legal situation of people with disabilities, and its project work continually produces new working aids, guidelines and training materials for self-help activists. Its website offers practical guides and brochures, a digitalisation lexicon (Digi-Guide), the 'Selbsthilfe der Zukunft' portal for member recruitment and activation, a values compass, legislative demands and the 'Keine PAnik' awareness campaign on the electronic patient record (ePA), as well as the Selbsthilfe.app. In terms of policy, the association advocates stronger collective and individual patient rights, broader patient participation in the G-BA and IQWiG, a patients' rights law, an expansion of the chronic diseases included in the risk-structure compensation scheme, clearer rules on reimbursement for medicines and medical aids, and reform of long-term care insurance oriented to the needs of chronically ill people. In disability policy it campaigns for implementation of the UN Convention, which Germany ratified on 26 March 2009, and for improvements in rehabilitation law under Book IX of the Social Code and in integration assistance. BAG SELBSTHILFE is financed through member contributions, public grants, funding from statutory health insurers and the statutory pension insurance, donations, contributions from healthcare companies and other funding measures. According to its own disclosure, its budget in 2024 was around 3.72 million euros. Its board has been chaired since 2026 by Rolf Flathmann, with Sonja Arens as first deputy chair and Gerlinde Bendzuck as second deputy chair; Prof. Dr. Joachim Baltes continues as treasurer. Hannelore Loskill, long-standing federal chair, was named honorary chair in 2026.

The Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Selbsthilfe von Menschen mit Behinderung, chronischer Erkrankung und ihren Angehörigen e.V. was founded on 5 October 1967 under the name Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Hilfe für Behinderte. From its beginnings it served as a joint platform for self-help organisations of people with disabilities and chronic illnesses and their relatives in Germany. Over the decades it grew into an umbrella association that today brings together around 120 nationwide self-help organisations and represents more than one million people. Its registered office is in Düsseldorf, where its office is led by Federal Managing Director Dr. Martin Danner. The association is politically and denominationally independent and is a member of the German Disability Council (Deutscher Behindertenrat). It sees itself as an advocacy body for its member organisations vis-à-vis government, parliament, European authorities and social groups, and it cooperates with organisations pursuing similar goals at international level. Its guiding principles are self-determination and self-representation, which it seeks to realise through participation in social-policy bodies, influence at all levels of government, and public information and awareness-raising. As the umbrella organisation of health-related self-help, BAG SELBSTHILFE coordinates the delegation of patient representatives to the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) and the quality-assurance bodies at IQTIG. It also provides information for those affected, from contacts at health insurers and other institutions to application procedures and forms, and publishes numerous individual brochures on illnesses and on the legal situation of people with disabilities. Its project work continually produces new working aids, guidelines and training materials for self-help activists. In policy terms, the association has advocated stronger collective and individual patient rights, including broader patient participation in the G-BA and IQWiG, and has supported the adoption of a patients' rights law such as the one presented in March 2011 by Wolfgang Zöller (CSU), the Federal Government Commissioner for Patients' Affairs. It has called for an expansion of the chronic diseases included in the risk-structure compensation scheme of the health insurers from 80 to 200–300, and for clearer legal rules on reimbursement by health insurers for both medicines and medical aids. It has criticised co-payment rules for chronically ill and disabled people with low incomes and demanded a health-care reform less oriented to acute illness and a reform of long-term care insurance geared to the needs of chronically ill people. In disability policy, BAG SELBSTHILFE works above all for the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Germany ratified on 26 March 2009. It published its demands together with the German Disability Council and actively participated in the preparation of the Federal Government's action plan announced for April 2011 in the relevant bodies at the Federal Government Commissioner for Matters relating to Persons with Disabilities, Jürgen Dusel, and the responsible Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. It also advocates further improvement of rehabilitation law under Book IX of the Social Code and the planned reform of integration assistance for people with disabilities. Financially, according to its own information, BAG SELBSTHILFE is supported among others by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) and by statutory health insurers. It also finances itself through support contributions and donations. According to its own disclosure on grants, the budget of BAG SELBSTHILFE e.V. in 2024 was around 3.72 million euros, composed of 7% member contributions, 24% public grants, 34% funding from statutory health insurers, 11% funding from statutory pension insurance, 10% donations from citizens, 5% grants from healthcare companies, 6% other funding measures (such as projects of Aktion Mensch) and 3% other income. In 2026 the Federal Members' Assembly elected Rolf Flathmann as the new chair. He is supported by two experienced deputy chairs, Sonja Arens (First Deputy Chair) and Gerlinde Bendzuck (Second Deputy Chair). Prof. Dr. Joachim Baltes continues as treasurer. The board is completed by Johannes Schweizer, Barbara Kleinow, Niklas Horn, Daniel Koller and Manuela Rettkowski. Hannelore Loskill, long-standing Federal Chair of BAG SELBSTHILFE, was named honorary chair in 2026. Rolf Flathmann has been honorary chair of Lebenshilfe Bremerhaven since 1992; he is married with three adult children, the youngest a young man with Down syndrome. He represents BAG SELBSTHILFE in positioning and strengthening self-help in health policy and works for an inclusive community in the spirit of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, for better medical care for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, especially those living in inpatient facilities, and for the redesign of integration assistance.

• 2026

  Federal Members' Assembly elects Rolf Flathmann as chair; Hannelore Loskill named honorary chair.

• 2024

  Budget of around 3.72 million euros according to the association's own disclosure.

• 2011

  Wolfgang Zöller (CSU), Federal Government Commissioner for Patients' Affairs, presents a patients' rights law, which the association supports.

• 2009

  Germany ratifies the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a central reference for the association's work.

• 1967

  Founded as Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Hilfe für Behinderte.

Umbrella association and advocacy platform for self-help organisations of people with disabilities and chronic illnesses in Germany, politically and denominationally independent, working for inclusion and participation in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

• Praxishilfen und Broschüren

  Practical guides and brochures on various topics of self-help work.

• Digi-Guide

  Lexicon with the most important terms on the digitalisation of the healthcare system.

• Portal 'Selbsthilfe der Zukunft'

  Portal for member recruitment and activation with a variety of handouts, model speeches and working aids.

• Werte-Kompass

  Central guidelines of the self-help movement in jointly supported values.

• Selbsthilfe.app

  App of BAG SELBSTHILFE giving interested parties an overview of health-related self-help.

1. 1Startseite - BAG SELBSTHILFE e.V.bag-selbsthilfe.de
2. 2Über uns: Das ist die BAG-SELBSTHILFEbag-selbsthilfe.de
3. 3Satzungbag-selbsthilfe.de
4. 4Vorstandbag-selbsthilfe.de
5. 5Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Selbsthilfe – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
6. 6Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Selbsthilfe – Wikidatawikidata.org