Innovation: SamenOud (Old Together)
Netherlands
AAI Domain: Independent, healthy and secure living (care to older people, access to health and social care services, independent living, physical safety)
Active ageing involves developing new models of care for older people and their carers in the community so that older people can lead independent lives for as long as possible, and the strain placed on carers is reduced to prevent them experiencing ‘burnout’. The World Health Organisation’s European Office’s Strategy and action plan for healthy ageing identified five priority interventions including public support for informal care giving with a focus on home care. Creating new models of care with older people and their carers can prevent premature entry into long term institutional care and enable older people and their carers to enjoy better health for longer.
In the Netherlands the central government’s National Elderly Programme provides financial support to innovative projects around the country. In 2010, a partnership of health and social care providers, health insurers and the municipalities of Veendam, Pekela and Stadskanaal developed the SamenOud (Old Together) programme. It is based on a combination of the chronic care model that offers preventive care services and the Triangle model of Kaiser Permanente, a large American health insurance company, based on screening and risk assessment.
SamenOud established 15 senior care to provide tailored services to approximately 1,500 older people aged 75 and over who were living in the community. An initial questionnaire was followed by a visit from a member of the team that consists of a general practitioner, a district nurse, a geriatrician and a case manager to assess the health and overall situation of the older person and their carers. This mapping of the current situation is followed by the development of a tailored programme of advice, support and/or care depending on the level of need.
Older people could be considered to be in robust health and so were only in need of advice on maintaining their health and well-being, or they could be vulnerable to the negative effects of long-term conditions such as heart disease or type 2 diabetes in which case they would discuss and receive an appropriate care package. The final group with complex care needs are most at risk of entering long-term institutional care and they received the Embrace integrated care package that provides intensive care support and rehabilitation to those most in need.
SamenOud started in January 2012 with the project evaluated by researchers from the University Medical Centre Groningen to assess the impact on the health and well-being of participants. Preliminary results indicated that the quality of care and the well-being of older people and their carers had improved and that this was achieved at a lower cost compared to similar populations that would have a higher rate of entry into high cost long-term residential care. The model was extended to Drenthe in 2014 because of the positive experiences that had been observed in the three pilot sites.
In relation to active ageing, SamenOud is a new model of care to older adults that is a hybrid of two proven models and has emphasised putting older people and their carers at the centre of activities while developing new ways of working for health and social care professionals. It effectively improves access to health services with an emphasis on prevention and maintaining health and well-being. This enables older people to live independently in their own home and community for longer and know that their physical safety, through the prevention of falls, is paramount.