ABSTRACT
The new creed is, that the elderly themselves have to be able to decide where and how to live, and which services they will utilise if their need for care increases. Within this scope, the term “custom-made care” is often used. This concept is closely connected to integrated care. The Netherlands has about 16 million inhabitants. In nursing homes and residential homes, a great degree of internal integration is realised at the levels of professional and organisational integration as all disciplines involved in the care process are present at the same place in which the elderly person is living. The home care sector is by far the most important supplier of professional social care for the elderly living on their own. The general trend has become to keep older persons as long as possible in their own homes as this is what they want themselves, rather than having to move to a nursing home.
