One Year Social Support Act: Reactions from readers

Abstract

The goal of the new Social Support Act in the Netherlands is to stimulate and support participation of handicapped and elderly citizens in society at large and in decision making on matters of care at the local government level. According to the contributing authors of this Spectrum, the new Social Support Act offers new chances for prevention and health in all policies, care and social support have come to the forefront of local agendas, and a good number of local governments act as forerunners. The implementation of the law is accompanied by research commissioned by the Ministery of Health. There is a great discrepancy between the positive and optimistic results of scientific research in which clients report high satisfaction figures and the media who paint a much more pessimistic picture of the care of the elderly. This discrepancy hinders the implementation of the law and the achievement of the broader goals it has. The Ministry visibly uses both research results and media reports to accommodate to these transition problems.

With contributions of H. Baaijens, B. Timmerman, L. Godschalx, M. de Jager, K. Span and F. Kassi.

Key words: Social Support Act, long term care, policy evaluation