09/11/05 Growing old graciously
It's smart, spiritual and relaxed. Its residents are given respect, freedom ... and two-seater bicycles. Nursing home care doesn't get much better than this, says Christopher Manthorp
The Netherlands: land of tolerance, bicycles - and one of the world's best residential homes for older people. This is Daelhoven, tucked away in a provincial backwater, but a shimmering beacon of genius, creativity and thoughtful architecture nonetheless.
This is where I'd hope to be taken in my twilight years. It is the kind of place I'd like to be able to offer my own residents in the UK. Its approach, design and care philosophy come close to answering most of the prayers I have offered up over a 30-year career in residential care.
Not all care for older people in the Netherlands is top notch. There are wearyingly familiar media scandals: homes revealed as filthy, bullying or neglectful. Care is state-funded and virtually free, but assessment rules are ludicrously bureaucratic.
There is almost no private sector, and the lack of competition in the market place makes for inertia. Though the insurance companies that provide most services traditionally work to local standards (ensuring some diversity), creativity in provision is in short supply, and prices have spiralled alarmingly.
On the other hand, when Dutch care is good, it's bloody marvellous. A trip to Daelhoven - proudly described as "the nursing home without walls" - in the town of Soest, just outside Utrecht, should be compulsory for anyone wondering how to provide good residential care for older people.
The Dutch tradition of social democracy and civic planning ensures that Soest is a characterless crap hole, of such conformism and respectability that its architecture weighs on the soul like fetters. However, it also means that Daelhoven is financed properly, given proper recognition as a community hub, and regularly visited by townspeople of all ages. It means that a large home can be built next to all amenities in the middle of town without nimbyism or complaint.
Daelhoven looks almost exclusively after people with dementia, offering outreach and help with chores in the community at one end of the spectrum and palliative care at the other. Nobody needs to move on.
Though small by Dutch standards...
From (society.guardian.co.uk)