ABSTRACT

Accepted policy focusses on keeping older people in their own homes, but there is increasing concern about what this can mean in practice for vulnerable people, stressed resources and family caregivers. This chapter looks at the possibility of creating relational care in community settings and what this implies for planning of provision, loneliness, building resilience and health outcomes. It then addresses the question of loneliness in more detail. It presents new models of community-based care – Neighbourhood Cares, Wellbeing Teams, Buurtzorg Teams and the tanteLouise village in the Netherlands – with description, evaluation and quotes from interviews. How are they working, what contributes to their success and what does success look like? Each model is followed by a list of learning points.