Summary - Small gestures
The importance of neighbours for older people in rural villages
Original title: Kleine gebaren
A chat over the fence or a friendly greeting in passing; a neighbour who asks if everything is okay, or helps with the shopping: these are all ways in which people can make the lives of older persons living nearby more pleasant and easier. As more and more older people continue living independently until well into old age, these gestures of friendliness and helpfulness are becoming more important. But which older persons receive them? Villages have a reputation for providing a caring residential setting, but does this also apply for the most frail residents?
Taking the Socially Vital Countryside 2014 (Sociaal Vitaal Platteland 2014) survey as starting point, this publication describes the local contacts with frail and less frail elderly village residents and how these residents rate their local community. What day-to-day problems do they experience in their lives? And what role does social contact in the village – or the absence of it – play? Finally, we look at how much help different older persons receive from neighbours and how this help comes about.
This study is part of the ‘Social State of the Countryside’ (De Sociale Staat van het Platteland) programme. Earlier publications in this series include the ‘Village Monitor’ (Dorpenmonitor) (2013) and ‘Close to home’ (Dichtbij huis) (2014).
Lotte Vermeij works in the Participation, Culture and Living Environment research sector at the Netherlands Institute for Social Research¦SCP. Her research focuses on local connections and liveability.