ANPEAn older woman in a nursing home
The policy for the elderly of the last cabinet was aimed at: living at home for as long as possible, and if that is really no longer possible, there is room in the nursing home. But that system squeaks and creaks. The calls for the return of the former retirement home are becoming louder.
Aad de Groot, CEO of health insurer DSW, is a great advocate of a new approach to elderly care. “Many people are forced to live at home longer, but there is now nothing between living at home and the nursing home,” says De Groot News hour. “We see an increasing group of elderly people who are lonely and less active. Living at home is good in itself, but we see that it has gone through the motions.”
De Groot sees a reform of elderly care, which resembles the policy of the past with the nursing home as an intermediate step, as his biggest priority. “It is an acute problem because of the aging population. The demand for care from the elderly is increasing, but it is also becoming more complex. On the other hand, there is a shortage of healthcare workers and the number of informal caregivers is decreasing. We are going to have a huge problem with elderly care in the future. to be able to organize well.”
Close nursing homes
In 2013, the Rutte II cabinet decided to cut back on elderly care by closing nursing homes. Eight hundred houses closed their doors. From now on, the community nurse provided care at home. Access to the nursing home was also restricted. Many elderly people with complex care needs ended up on the waiting list. There are currently 22,218 elderly people waiting for a place in the nursing home.
In political The Hague, more and more parties are in favor of the introduction of a form between home and the nursing home. Last October, almost the entire House of Representatives supported a motion by JA21 MP Eerdmans on this matter.
In Schiedam, former sheltered housing for fit elderly people have been transformed into rental apartments for independent people over 80 with a light care need. A contemporary version of the familiar retirement home:
Is it time for the return of the retirement home? In Schiedam they know how to do that
DSW director De Groot wants to breathe new life into the care home, but in a new variant. Elderly people live independently, but surrounded by care, facilities and activities “within slipper distance”. “People have their own home, but they have a meeting place and all amenities nearby.”
In De Groot’s ideal care home, elderly people who need a lot of care live together with vital elderly people. “People can help each other, for example by cooking for each other or shopping for each other. We often see the elderly as a cost item, but they can still contribute a lot to society. And the most important thing is that people have a higher quality of life.”
One care provider per residential complex
A condition for De Groot is that one organization arranges the care in the residential complex. Now there are sometimes five different healthcare providers who organize care in one residential complex. That is inefficient.
Financing can also be much simpler, De Groot thinks. “If you free up one district or regional budget and use that budget to collaborate with the municipality, insurer, housing association and healthcare provider, there is no constant struggle: from which fund should it be paid?”
2023-12-19 21:43:23
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