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Invest in housing, digitization and care support for the elderly

In order to maintain the care for elderly people living at home in the future, it is necessary to invest now in suitable homes, in digitization of daily life and care and in local and regional cooperation in care and support. This is what the Committee on the Future of Care for Older People Living at Home writes in the advice ‘Old and independent in 2030. Adapted TRAVEL advice’, which committee chairman Wouter Bos offers today to Minister Hugo de Jonge of Public Health.


The committee published the first version of its advice last January. She invited interested parties to respond; 129 people and organizations responded to this. In addition to the suggestions and comments received, the Committee has also incorporated its experiences in and with (elderly) care during the corona crisis in the final version published today.-

In its advice, the committee formulates forty recommendations that it assesses against the four principles of the REIS:

  • Direction: does the recommendation increase the possibilities for older people to direct themselves?
  • Simplicity: does the recommendation simplify support and care for the elderly, both for the elderly themselves and for professionals?
  • Integral approach: does the recommendation remove bulkheads and promote an integral view of the need for support and care?
  • Cooperation: does the recommendation promote cooperation between the various parties and professionals involved in caring for elderly people who live at home?

(re) Building

Many of the recommendations can be traced back to four central opinions. The first is: (re) build! The physical living environment is crucial for the elderly to be able to (continue to) live independently and to become as little dependent on care as possible. New forms of housing, between the old house and the nursing home, can offer a solution. At the moment, however, too little is being built and renovated for the elderly. The result is not only an insufficient supply of housing for the elderly, but also an obstacle to the flow on the housing market.

Digitizing

The second advice is: go digital! This advice is not only addressed to providers of professional care and support, for whom ‘digital must become the new normal’. Older people themselves will also have to make much more use of digital technologies to make their daily lives easier and more pleasant. Large-scale use can lead to more self-management, a higher quality of life and a more efficient use of scarce care providers.

Collaborate

The third is: work together! In the coming decades, we will have to proliferate in the care of the elderly with scarce resources and people. In the coming years, local and regional cooperation will be more important than freedom of choice and competition in order to use the available resources efficiently.

Learning from the corona crisis

The fourth advice is: learn from the corona crisis and keep the good. In addition to loss and sorrow, the corona crisis has also brought us good things. In care and support, the use of digital technologies, collaboration, direction and data exchange have received a huge boost. Don’t let all that disappear once the crisis has eased or gone, but keep the good and cherish the momentum.

By: National Care Guide

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