Care for the elderly at home

The number of elderly people in the Netherlands is rising sharply in the coming years: by 2040, there will be about 40% more of them. On average, an elderly person living at home in the Netherlands relies on sometimes as many as ten to fifteen organizations, professionals and supporters with their own roles and responsibilities, often working seamlessly alongside one another. If we in the Netherlands want to future-proof care for the elderly at home, the fragmentation of management and implementation needs attention.

 

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Care for the elderly at home!

Mrs. Jansen and her daughter Elsbeth

Mrs. Jansen is 82 years old and lives at home alone after the death of her husband. Her daughter Elsbeth is an only child and has her hands full caring for her mother. Under no circumstances does Mrs. Jansen want to be admitted to a nursing home. Elsbeth has regular contact with eight providers and caregivers around mother, but there is no central point of contact. In applying for indications – as well as coordinating weekly support – she is often sent from pillar to post.

Cases like that of Elsbeth and her mother are becoming more common in the Netherlands. There are solutions available for almost every conceivable situation and request for help. Care workers work incredibly hard, yet the care landscape in the Netherlands is inadequately equipped for elderly people living at home. Barring exceptions, the burden is placed on informal caregivers and their inventiveness to plow through the bureaucracy.

Not youth aid but family aid
In an ideal world, Elsbeth’s mother receives her care from one or two parties offering all services integrally. Everything fits together seamlessly and the indication provision is arranged with a phone call. There is one policy framework and one funding stream. In the current system, however, realizing this ideal picture seems a long way off: a system change is not realistic and we cannot expect professionals to solve this flaw in the system among themselves.
For this reason, we advocate setting up learning labs at the district and neighborhood level. Care administrators – from municipalities, providers as well as the care office and health insurer – can get to work on this. In such a laboratory, all stakeholders at the district level work together from one policy framework, one financing and with one simple indication for all care, support and housing needs needed for older people at home. Knowledge arising from these learning laboratories is actively disseminated to other regions and to policy makers of

Want to learn more or get started yourself?

Please contact EHdK colleague Jenneke Aartsen.

Jenneke Aartsen

0637340740
jenneke@ehdk.nl

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