A group of about seventy administrators in aged care and home care, professors and other experts have signed a manifesto calling for nursing homes not to be locked again. The signatories fear that the nursing homes will have to close their doors again during the second wave of the coronavirus, they say. Faithful.
The quality of life of the residents of nursing homes must come first, they say. Although preventing infection with the virus is part of this, this should not again lead to residents being cut off from their loved ones and the outside world.
The starting point of new policy should be to isolate the virus, and not isolate the residents, the signatories suggest. Enough protective means and tests must be made available for this.
“Some healthcare institutions are already closed. There is a chance that in the second COVID-19 wave the issues of the day will again undermine the quality of life of nursing home residents and their loved ones. That makes us worried. And we must prevent”, the initiators warn Minister Hugo de Jonge of Public Health.
‘Quality of life must be the starting point’
The manifesto has been drawn up by, among others, professor of long-term care Anne-Mei The, chairman of the board Gijsbert van Herk of the Humanitas foundation, writer and program maker Hugo Borst (Thuis op Zuid), doctor and philosopher Bert Keizer and Fatos Ipek, caregiver and founder of OMAZ.nu .
The directors come up with a plan in which person-oriented care, support and quality of life are the starting points. The prevention of health problems is part of the quality of life, but can never be the only determining factor, according to the authors.
Residents are fully-fledged discussion and decision partners. “Residents’ own control and autonomy and dialogue with their loved ones are paramount. This requires fair information and transparency about considerations.”
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