Tom van Oosterhout

Voluntary care associations

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There is a revival of the citizens’ initiative in care in The Netherlands. These are initiatives that usually have their ‘place’ in the social atmosphere in which ‘voluntary associations are dominant’ (Dekker, 2014). The characteristics of these free associations or citizen initiatives are: Participation is voluntary; Participation can be ended at any time; Apart from … Read more

Sense of Care

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Study into the viability of a theoretical concept The following weeks I will publish the results of a study I conducted the last seven years. This study explores the viability of a theoretical concept: the sense of care. I have designed this concept to be better able to explain care behavior. The existence of such … Read more

Older employees feel abandoned by ‘their’ employers

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Older employees across Europe feel let down. In the European Union, but more specifically in The Netherlands, employers associate the aging of society foremost with higher labour costs (+75% of the employers), stagnating or decreasing productivity and poor profitability. And yet, for these employers aging is mainly a national problem and not a challenge to … Read more

Doubt is our product. A destructive ideology

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Early this year the Rockefeller Family Fund “announced that it would divest its holdings in fossil fuel companies. We mean to do this gradually, but in a public statement we singled out ExxonMobil for immediate divestment because of its “morally reprehensible conduct.”” (1) For decades ExxonMobil casted doubt on climate change. Despite their early and … Read more

Socio-cultural rift of 1970 still dominates our lives

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The socio-cultural history of the current generations starts in 1970 (1). In that year a ‘hard’ breach in societal trends can be marked. A run up to this trend can already be noticed from the fifties, and onward. The dissemination of popular culture through radio, soon followed by television, the general introduction and use of … Read more

Decentralization: The rise of the local welfare state

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The decentralization trend in the social domain has materialized in many European countries (1). Although decentralization in general is met with some sympathy, it is also much debated (2). If decentralization is discussed, rather often implicitly is assumed that duties and responsibilities, e.g. if it comes to social and health care provisions, are best served … Read more

Make way for the district nurse

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The driving force behind the return of the district nurse on the social and health agenda in The Netherlands is the Regional Care Association West-Brabant (RKWB). This is a voluntary care association with just over 100.000 members. To put this in perspective, some 300.000 people live in the region that is serviced by RKWB. Reintroduction … Read more

Public opinion polls: ‘truth amongst the majority’

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In July 1974 the European Commission published what became a series of public opinion polls which lasts until this day. In 1974 inflation was the main concern of the citizens in the European Union, a mere nine member states. In 2016 inflation is still at the top of the list of the personal problems EU-citizens … Read more

Social healthcare: fad or factual

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In 1976 McKeown, at that time a professor of social healthcare at the University of Birmingham in England, launched an all out attack on the idea that the improvement of people’s health during the past century resulted from the progress of medical science. Even without any direct proof he stated that better food and improved … Read more