Summary - There for each other?

Original title: Voor elkaar?

The structure of the long-term care and support system in the Netherlands was changed with effect from 1 January 2015. At the request of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) is carrying out a national evaluation of the reform of the Dutch long-term care system covering the period from 2015 to 2017 inclusive. Several interim reports will be published as part of the evaluation of the Dutch long-term care reforms, culminating in the publication of an overarching final report in 2018.

The study provides an insight into the unpaid help that people provide to others with health problems. This includes both help given by people who knew each other before they began helping, such as family, friends or neighbours (informal helpers), as well as volunteers providing care or support. Who do they help, what kind of help do they give, why do they do so, and with whom do they share the help? Also, what are the experiences of these unpaid helpers? Do they need support, and if so are they receiving it? And to what extent are people who do not currently provide unpaid help willing and able to begin doing so? Is the situation on all these aspects different in 2016 compared to 2014? Based on surveys conducted in 2014 and 2016, this publication provides answers to these kinds of questions. More than 7,000 Dutch citizens were surveyed in each of these two years, including informal helpers, care and support volunteers and people who were not active as informal helpers.