De mantel in de zorg:
van bewustwording naar bouwen en beheersen
Marjolein Broese van Groenou is a professor of “Informal Care in a Changing Society.” Since 1991, she has been working in the Department of Sociology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on issues related to the care and well-being of older adults in an aging society. In her farewell lecture, she discusses how informal care can remain a sustainable component of long-term care in the coming years. She argues that the issue of informal care affects all levels of society and requires adaptation.
At the individual level, it is necessary for everyone to become aware of the fact that informal care is becoming a foreseeable and structural part of the life course. People can prepare for giving or receiving informal care by thinking ahead about their wishes regarding informal care, how expectations can be aligned with family members, and what professional assistance is available.
An informal care journey often progresses from light to very intensive and requires building a care network that, over time, may consist of a mix of informal caregivers, privately paid helpers, and healthcare professionals provided through statutory programs. These various forms of care and support make this an issue at the level of families, neighborhoods, and organizations.
However, to keep informal care manageable, changes are needed at the policy level to make care for a loved one and their informal caregiver easy to find, accessible, and appropriate. The care recipient and the informal caregiver are closely connected but are treated as separate individuals seeking assistance within distinct domains of care and well-being. In addition, the role of family caregivers must be recognized and acknowledged across society as a whole, so that social networks, neighborhoods, and employers can also proactively offer support.