Abstract:

Describes developments in national policy toward the elderly in the Netherlands during the last three decades in relationship with health care policy. Based on the work of governmental bodies in the 1960s, a preliminary policy memorandum was published in 1970 that has served as a landmark for policy since. Focus here is on aging policy since 1990, which has emphasized the importance of societal integration. The provision of care & the costs involved are also important, but do not get the major attention they received in earlier policies. Disconnection of the financial arrangements of care & housing in homes for the elderly is discussed, along with attempts to restructure the national health care system to better accommodate their changing needs.