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Differences in care

Original title: Verschillen in verzorging.

The care provided to elderly people living at home is undergoing great change. By increasing the responsibility of family members for elderly people in need of help, the Netherlands is moving towards a family-based care model. How are such elderly people looked after in neighbouring countries?
This report investigates on the basis of a major survey in nine European countries what limitations elderly people in those countries experience, which informal networks they have access to and what help they receive in practice. While many differences are encountered between the different countries, there are also many similarities.

In the Mediterranean countries it is not just the nuclear family, but also the extended family which is responsible for looking after the elderly; the government plays a very minor role in these countries. This extended family model is now under great pressure; it is only the wide use of migrants in providing 'family' care that has enabled the government to limit its responsibility thus far.

The Netherlands is found to be comparable with the Scandinavian countries, where the government plays an important role in supporting elderly people in need of help. The situation in the Netherlands is a favourable one in many respects, first and foremost because there are relatively few elderly people with disabilities and these elderly people moreover have relatively large informal networks. Even in the Netherlands, however, there are many elderly persons with disabilities who receive no help.