Long may we live!
Hot meals for pensioners (1965) Netherlands Federation for Elderly Care
Housing for older people in the Netherlands is undergoing substantial change. The costs associated with an ageing population have led to radical structural changes, such as the separation of housing and care and the privatisation of care. The political ambition to replace the welfare state with a ‘participation society’ has accelerated the policy of allowing older people to live at home for increasingly longer periods. This new political and economic reality is having an influence on housing for older people and provides an opportunity to foreground the phenomenon of ageing as a cultural issue.
Concerns about nutrition
In the 1970s nutrition became an important subject in elderly care. In this brochure, the Netherlands Federation for Elderly Care expressed its concerns about eating patterns among the elderly. The older people get and the less able-bodied they become, the less likely they are to prepare hot meals, which adversely affects their health. This is especially true of widowed men, who are not used to cooking for themselves. This document provides information on solving this problem by, for example, arranging for hot meals to be delivered. Pensioners who are still able to cook can attend informative gatherings that encourage them to cook and look after themselves.