The Dutch National Care for the Elderly Programme: integrated care for frail elderly persons

INTRODUCTION: The Netherlands Organisation of Health Research and Development (ZonMw) has launched the ambitious National Care for the Elderly Programme to improve care and support for frail elderly persons. This four years programme (2008–2011) is initiated by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. The budget is 80 million euro. DESCRIPTION: The programme consists of three steps. First, regional networks were formed consisting of all parties that can contribute to the organisation of care and support for frail elderly persons. Second, innovative experiments were formed within these networks. These experiments focus on a reorganisation and integration of care and support and are formally evaluated. They should lead to added value for elderly people, in terms of greater self-reliance, better retention of function, and reduced care use and treatment burden. The third step is dissemination and implementation of knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Eight networks are formed and continue to grow. These networks developed 13 experiments on the following topics: screening of frailty, reactivation after hospitalisation, improvement of primary care, integrated care, and new information systems. More experiments will follow. DISCUSSION: We aim for better integrated care and added value for frail elderly persons through formation of networks and experiments. Whether this approach works is still to be tested.