Over the past 40 years, much has been cut back in the field of ageing and elderly care in the Netherlands: the ‘old people’s homes’ and care homes are no more and elderly can only go to a nursing home when they are very sick. Only recently the Dutch develop replacement structures that allow people to live at home for longer.
More and more places in the Netherlands are developing initiatives to deal with the consequences of an ageing population. This is badly needed because the staff shortage in home care will increase every year. In particular, elderly people living at home will start to experience this personally.
In 2021 the Dutch concept of ‘pre-care circles’ was developed. There are two central elements in the pre-care circles: healthy vital elderly people help elderly people in need of care and the demand for help and the supply of help are coordinated in mutual consultation. It helps to relieve the elderly care organisations and hospitals. Euronews reporter and cameraman Hans von der Brelie meets members of a pre-care circle in the Dutch town Helmond to find out what the advantages are of this new community networks.
Also new forms of elderly homes have been setup in the Netherlands, where elderly but also youngsters can rent an apartment. In the Euronews reportage inhabitants of the community complex Liv Inn in Hilversum are portrayed and interviewed. The housing organisation asked thousands of elderly how they want to live when they get older. They sum up the essence of the innovative community home: ‘a house where you live on, a house that keeps you young, where you take your time and grow old(er) meaningfully. Liv inn is the new life for older people, with the commonality of a student residence, the bustle of a small village and the security of a home’.
Another important way to tackle the challenges in the elderly care is care on distance. A hospital in Nijmegen offers care on distance but also trains elderly and family members to play a greater role in their own care by performing care activities themselves and working more with digital support such as apps. It leads to more independence and self-direction for patients and a reduction of pressure on care staff. In the reportage heart patient Johan shows how he weighs himself and measures his blood pressure and how he sends the outcome to the hospital via a special application. He also gets a consult on distance from his hospital doctor via his tablet.
Featurez proposed to cover this topic, did all the research, gave advice, has setup, planned and accompanied the filming, booked a rental car and did the driving and translated the Dutch answers.
The reportage is published on the Featurez video page.