Problems here, solutions elsewhere | Amsterdam’s senior villages

A series that presents interesting initiatives deployed abroad, from which Quebec could draw inspiration.

(Amsterdam) Every morning, a telephone channel is activated in the districts of Nieuwmarkt, Rivierenbuurt and De Pijp, in Amsterdam. A group of elderly neighbors take turns calling each other to make sure everyone is doing well.

“If there is no response, we move to make sure the person is okay. That she didn’t fall or get sick. It’s a way of looking out for each other,” explains Dutchman Sjaak Blenk, 71.

The man who lives in a sumptuous house in Amsterdam explains that 28 “urban villages” (Stadsdorpen in Dutch) have emerged over the past 13 years in different neighborhoods of Amsterdam. The goal of these groups, which we could also call “benevolent neighborhoods,” is to bring neighbors together to help each other. With the aging of the population in the Netherlands, these groups help combat loneliness and allow many seniors to consider postponing their move to a retirement home, explains Mr. Blenk.

Former teacher, Marion Mulder, 71, realized after a few years of retirement that she did not know her neighbors well enough. Eager to make a difference, she created an urban village in her neighborhood in the north of the city a year ago.

She explains that not all caring neighborhood groups are the same. Some focus more on older people. Others integrate young families. “There’s only one rule: you have to connect,” she says.

Urban villages often organize activities. “It can be very simple, like going to see a movie together, going for a walk or reading books,” says M.^me Mulder. Many groups also organize smaller committees “that really help each other,” she adds.

Sjaak Blenk had just moved to Amsterdam two and a half years ago when he realized he didn’t know anyone. He tried to establish ties with a couple of young neighbors. In vain. They were too busy to accept his dinner offers.

“One day I received a flyer from the ‘Pink Urban Village’ and I have been involved with it ever since,” says Mr. Blenk. The Pink Urban Village is aimed at the 50+ LGBTQ+ community in Amsterdam. “From my first meeting, I immediately liked it. It made it easy for me to connect with people,” says Mr. Blenk.

Over the past year, the man organized evenings with the pink urban village where young members of the LGBTQ+ community were invited to talk about aging with elders. “Some young people don’t have LGBTQ+ grandparents who can tell them what it’s like to grow old in this community. And talk about life. It’s been fabulous,” says Mr. Blenk.

To live in a community

Editor of the ZorgSaamWonen platform, which focuses on questions of housing, care and social protection, gerontologist Yvonne Witter believes that “the solution to the aging of the population is the neighborhood”.

In addition to urban villages, the Netherlands is increasingly relying on “housing community” initiatives to help older people live at home longer.

M^me Witter points out that 920,000 people, young and old, live alone in the Netherlands. “And it will be 1.7 million by 2040. We must find a solution to break this loneliness,” she says.

M^me Mulder lives in the Acropolis housing community, a block of 86 homes in northern Amsterdam. “Everyone has to give something to the group: gardening, organizing a film or singing evening,” she says. We also all work together in the field. Everyone knows each other. It may not be for everyone. But for me, it’s very stimulating and reassuring. »

Already, between 600 and 700 residential community projects exist in the Netherlands. “And several more are to come,” says M^me Witter.

In the office of the Minister of Health of the Netherlands, it is emphasized that we “encourage seniors to stay at home as long as possible”. Caregivers and volunteers are an integral part of “senior care of the future,” says the minister’s press secretary, Job Holzhauer.