Blog: Politics, Give Aged Care Peace and Space

The election campaign paid little attention to elderly care, while problems in this sector are rapidly increasing. As the population ages, more and more people will need support and care, while systems and organizational forms are already stagnant; There are significant staff shortages, insufficient budgets, and not enough suitable homes for frail older people.

The government wants older people to continue living in their homes for as long as possible. Most seniors want it too, provided they can get the necessary care. Initially, older people should seek help in their own environment and rely on their network. A movement that meets the need of older people to maintain control. Therefore, many citizens are rolling up their sleeves and arranging matters on their own. Citizens, organizations and partnerships rich in initiative and activism commit heart and soul to creating caring communities. They enter into agreements with local health care organizations about providing professional care at home.

Lots of closed doors

However, things often go wrong here. Many initiatives die in their beauty due to unclear financial flows, complex or clumsy regulations, and divisions between all kinds of agencies. Parties that should exist for the citizen – or could exist – do not know where to find each other and focus on their specific tasks, for example, housing, care or social welfare. For many authorities, rules are rules that cannot be changed, even if doing so serves a higher purpose. For example, seniors wanting to subdivide their large home to give young people a chance to live are met with a relentless “no” because this does not fit the zoning plan. Thus many doors are closed to citizens with good ideas. It also happens in reverse: promising initiatives are taken over by institutions that regard them as their own domain, such that inventors no longer have any control over them. Control and ownership are frustrated and the citizen activist is left empty-handed.

To cooperate

Many healthcare organizations work hard to organize healthcare differently. Now that seniors can continue to live independently for as long as possible, health care organizations must provide care outside their walls. They must focus on what is happening in the local community and cooperate with the different parties that coordinate their activities. However, current financing models hinder this collaboration. These focus on production and the care provided, not on initiating innovation, preventing care and encouraging “collaborative care”. Moreover, there are also rounds of cuts from The Hague, which are forcing officials to reorganize for the umpteenth time.

Need peace and space

To shape the necessary transformation in healthcare, peace and space are needed. Financial and political peace for healthcare providers, social care institutions and housing associations, in order to properly organize the transition to future aged care. And a space to act locally, to try out promising initiatives, learn from them, and find new ways together to properly organize elder care. This requires cooperation from all parties with an influence on healthcare: national and local governments, healthcare offices and insurance companies, healthcare and social care organisations, education, housing associations, project developers and builders, and companies in the technology sector.

Building sustainable care for the elderly

We therefore call on politicians to postpone further cuts and allow sufficient time for healthcare organizations. Financial peace and space for experimentation can facilitate and encourage health care organizations to do their part in intentional innovation and, in collaboration with citizens and other parties, build sustainable, future-oriented care for the elderly.

via: Anja MachelsiProfessor at the University of Human Studies, and Marie Antoinette Bax,LOC value care.