The ageing population and increasing pressure on formal and informal care requires alternative solutions in the areas of housing, care and welfare. New communities are emerging in the Netherlands in which various groups, including the elderly with intensive care needs, can live and receive appropriate, customised care and support. The basic principles are: encouraging a sense of community, personal control and connecting with the preferences, needs and life history of clients who need long-term care and support in their daily lives. Examples of these residential care communities are almshouses, communal living, intergenerational housing or active communities.
This project originated from a two-day Future Exploration organised by the project group with 72 social actors from care and welfare organisations, municipalities, citizens' initiatives, health insurers, housing associations, companies and ministries. This showed that they are enthusiastic about residential care communities but at the same time still experience many obstacles to realising them.
There is a lack of knowledge about the characteristics of these initiatives, for which target groups they are suitable and what the impact is on the daily life of residents, their loved ones, employees and the broader social context, such as the neighbourhood where the residential care community is located.
The main objective of this project is to gain more insight into the underlying mechanisms and conditions for the implementation of successful residential care communities in long-term care. This is essential for informing future policy, promoting the quality of life for residents and strengthening community involvement.
The project starts (Phase 1, month 1–9) with a national survey of initiatives that have applied a residential care community in practice. From an interdisciplinary scientific perspective, we develop criteria against which we can calibrate initiatives and identify typical characteristics.
In Phase 2 (months 10-24) we will generate insight into the preconditions for the implementation of successful residential care communities. We will use a questionnaire distributed among the national initiatives to investigate the physical, social and organisational aspects of residential care communities in long-term care. We will conduct in-depth interviews with a selection of people to explore the perspectives of important stakeholders, such as founders, residents and their families, citizens, employees, healthcare and welfare organisations, municipalities and parties involved in the construction (e.g. housing associations, project developers).
In Phase 3 (months 12-48) we will conduct action-oriented research into the development, significance and impact of residential care communities in four selected initiatives of the co-applicants. These have been chosen from the Future Exploration and cover a diverse range of residential care communities in long-term care. Insights are translated into an inspiration guide with possible interventions for other initiatives based on a mini-delphi study.
