Housing and care for older adults with dementia: a European perspective

The ageing of society goes together with an increasing number of older adults with dementia. This group has specific housing and care needs reflecting their physical and mental health status, which has implications for the housing market, the public housing task, and the related provision of care. Within the European Union, there are various care and welfare regimes that constitute an underlying cause of the broad range of solutions chosen to organise care and housing of older adults with dementia. These regimes also account for the large differences that exist in the current housing situation of older adults with dementia in relation to the level of care they receive and the involvement of relatives. The paper zooms in on the situation in the Netherlands, where national policies focus on (1) ageing-in-place, (2) the separation of residence and care, and (3) substitution of institutional by non-institutional types of living. Within institutional settings, a transition is made towards small-scale group accommodation (SSGA) for older adults with dementia. Solutions within the domain of care consist of facilitating family carers, whereas housing solutions are directed to SSGA and use of technology and implementation of modifications to the living environment.