Housing for the elderly in the Netherlands: A care problem

Abstract

Immediately after the Second World War, the elderly in the Netherlands experienced a housing problem. Since the Netherlands is a prosperous but densely populated country, the houses owned or rented by the elderly were needed for young families. So elderly people were encouraged to move to homes for the elderly. Gradually the housing problems in the Netherlands diminished, and homes for the elderly were transformed into care-homes. Elderly people began to live in these homes because they needed the care. They had to live in very tiny rooms with limited facilities, and care was provided by the organizations that were responsible for the housing. The elderly were in a take-it-or-leave-it position.

Today there are more alternatives for elderly people who need care. They can live in care-homes, but they can also live in sheltered housing projects. Home care is improved, and sometimes the elderly can receive comprehensive care from a nearby care-home. In a future development, elderly people who chronically need comprehensive care will have their own personalized care budget. They may live in a “grow-along” house near a care-home or service centre and “buy” care from whomever they want. This de-linking of housing and care will make elderly people more autonomous and will force care providers to be more customer-oriented. It requires care providers to transform their services; where they formerly regarded the elderly as people with deficiencies that needed to be compensated for, they will now have to regard them as people with abilities, who have to be enabled. Care providers sometimes oppose these changes for fear of losing their jobs. Experiments show that this will not be the case, unless change is resisted.