Nijmegen chooses wellbeing close to home in the neighbourhood

On Wednesday 16 September the city council of Nijmegen adopted the Visie op Sociaal Welzijn (the city's vision on social wellbeing). A vision like this sounds far away, but it does decide where you can go with a question in your own neighbourhood in the years ahead.

The main point: the municipality wants one city-wide network of walk-in points, where you can go for information, advice and practical help with wellbeing, health and money matters. You now know these places as the Stips. They will stay, but where needed they will be used more broadly, for all residents — young people, families and older people alike. The municipality wants to avoid all kinds of separate desks growing up next to each other. What this means for each Stip is not yet settled: there are no dates, locations or new opening hours yet.

For people with memory problems the municipality chooses what it calls the social approach to dementia. The aim is that someone with dementia stays part of daily life and of the people around them for as long as possible, instead of being set apart. For older people the municipality also wants to develop new forms of dagbesteding (day activities); what these will look like has not been worked out yet.

One of the five starting points reads: wellbeing support is collective, unless individual support fits better. That sounds more alarming than it is, and it is important not to get the wrong idea here. This starting point is about wellbeing activities in the neighbourhood, not about care for which you have an indicatie (a care needs assessment) or a beschikking (a formal decision letter). So your support through the Wmo (the Dutch Social Support Act, arranged by your municipality), the Wlz (the Dutch Long-Term Care Act) or a pgb (a personal budget you use to buy your own care) does not change because of this. The municipality itself also writes, in so many words, that individual support stays available when it is needed.

The municipality is open about the money side: the wellbeing budget does not grow along with the number of residents, so choices have to be made. The vision will be carried out within the existing budgets. Exactly how much money will go to it only becomes clear with the Stadsbegroting (the city budget) for the coming years.

The vision sets the direction; the details follow later this year. Do you notice something of these changes and wonder what they mean for your situation? Feel free to call us, and we will look at it together with you.