Guest blog by Marianne van Bochove, urban sociologist and senior researcher at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. Published: April 8, 2025.
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Over the past few years, providing and receiving care suddenly became much more central in my life, after my partner suffered a brain injury in an accident. Self-sufficiency was no longer a given. He received care from a whole range of caregivers, and I tried to keep family life going. I found it difficult to ask family or friends for help. Couldn’t I manage on my own? By now, after also becoming somewhat of a caregiver myself, I see things differently. And Joan Tronto’s work, which I was already familiar with, has taken on even more meaning for me.
My own experiences have further motivated me to engage with the theme of the “caring city,” in which I, like Tronto, take a broad view of “care.” A caring city goes beyond caring streets and neighborhoods, where residents look out for one another. It also concerns how various institutions - such as the municipality, healthcare organizations, and housing corporations - contribute to a fair distribution of the responsibility for care.
Research
In the study Accelerated Action in Housing and Care, we examine how responsibilities are distributed when creating housing for older adults. Across the country, there are initiatives that combine the values of independence and community, where housing and care can adapt to residents’ needs. There is broad support for these initiatives. Yet in practice, they get off the ground slowly and with difficulty. Why is that, and what can be done about it?
We address this question through a network of “changemakers.” They are active - either as paid staff or volunteers - at the intersection of housing and care for older adults. As researchers, we follow two housing initiatives for a year to observe when and why delays or accelerations occur. We pay attention to collaboration between parties, appropriate and inappropriate regulations, and the role that older residents themselves play in the development of the initiative. We discuss our findings within the network to jointly determine which actions are needed.
Insights
What stands out is that there are many systems that were designed for good reasons, but that are not always suitable for new initiatives. For example, the “housing allocation system,” intended to distribute rental homes fairly. We also see that the parties involved share an ideal, but are funded in different ways and therefore have different interests. The field is so fragmented that people working on the same issues often cannot find each other, sometimes not even within their own organization. This is striking: there is awareness of the dependence of older adults and the importance of communal living, but little attention to the interdependence that also exists between and within organizations. Good collaboration also requires care!
Hulpvraag
An important lesson I’ve learned over the past few years, both at home and at work, is that asking for help is not a weakness, but a strength. So I’ll end with a request for help. The two housing initiatives we are following were both started from within the professional field. We would also like to get in touch with citizen collectives in the area of housing and care. What slowing factors are you encountering in your initiative, and how are you dealing with them?
Do you have the answer to Marianne's question? Mail to m.e.vanbochove@hhs.nl