KRALENDIJK – The services and foundations for elderly care have united their forces to improve the quality of life for all elderly individuals. The aim of this collaboration is to enable all elderly individuals to continue participating in our community in their own way, and to ensure that they receive customized care at the right time. This collaboration is part of the government policy named ‘Vital Aging.’ Within this policy, there is a focus on services such as day care, home care, district nursing, and 24-hour care facilities.

The foundation for this collaboration between services and foundations was laid in October 2023. During that month, the public entity of Bonaire, OLB, the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport, VWS, and twelve organizations signed an agreement with each other. This led to the formation of the Cockpit Group for Elderly Care Alliance, CKO. Sentro Akseso, Fundashon Mariadal, Zorg en Welzijn group, and Public Health are part of the cockpit group. This group collaborates with expert working groups to implement policy in practice. These include organizations like Fundashon Alzheimer Bonaire, Stichting Mantelzorg, Mental Health Caribbean, general practitioners, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists.

Since January 1 of this year, Danielle van der Linden has been the program manager of the cockpit group. Van der Linden explains the benefits of the new way of collaboration: “There are many wonderful activities and excellent care organizations for the elderly in Bonaire. The network surrounding the elderly becomes stronger when all groups involved in elderly care have a better understanding of each other’s work. This includes complementing each other and further developing plans with the elderly. This way, every elderly individual can continue to participate in our community in a meaningful way and remain safely at home for as long as possible. I regularly engage with elderly individuals myself to ensure that what we are doing aligns with what they consider important,” Van der Linden stated.

The manager of the cockpit group also mentions the plans for the elderly that are underway this year. “We want elderly individuals with minor or major needs to easily access information at a single point of contact. This could be about activities, home care, or other forms of assistance. Additionally, we are working on jointly assessing these needs so that everyone receives the right care in the right place. For instance, if elderly individuals with dementia are still living at home, we want them to easily access suitable Pasadia centers. Finally, there are plans to collectively train and educate the employees of these organizations.”

Van der Linden believes that this intensive and unique form of collaboration aligns with the vision of the island government and ZJCN/VWS. The parties aim to implement the policy together with various organizations in Bonaire. For inquiries about the cockpit group and the plans for elderly care, you can email danielle.vanderlinden@bonairegov.com or call 7702656.