Palliative care and support must become a natural part of regular care as well as the social domain. This is the starting point of the future vision and agenda for Palliative Care and Support, which Minister Mirjam Sterk (Long-Term Care, Youth and Sport) has developed in consultation with many stakeholders.
Currently, it is still often viewed as a separate domain and care is too fragmented. The Minister calls upon care providers to play their role in this.
Palliative care and support are about quality of life, about being able to continue doing the things that are important to people who are terminally ill. In addition to appropriate medical care, this requires good, loving support. Central to this is a caring society in which loved ones, volunteers, and healthcare professionals work together. In the coming years, we will need all these forces to continue providing good palliative care and support, even as the demand for this care becomes more complex in the future, requires tailored solutions more often, and will be needed by more people.
Mirjam Sterk, Minister of Long-Term Care, Youth and Sport
Care and support in the home environment
Care and support must be provided in the home environment or as close to home as possible, especially for people in the palliative phase. Medical care, support from the social domain, and the involvement of loved ones and volunteers come together here. Therefore, more collaboration, coordination, and a neighborhood-oriented approach are needed. In addition, continued attention is required in the coming years for sufficient capacity, digital data exchange, and funding across different forms of care.
Awareness also remains important. This year, the awareness campaign ‘Living Until the Last’ will be continued, including through a traveling artwork and associated regional awareness activities.
National steering committee
A national body will be established to oversee the development of palliative care and support. This coordinating body will be composed of parties from the palliative care field, but also, and specifically, of parties playing a role in regular care, support, the social domain, and the network surrounding people in the palliative phase.
The body will monitor the coherence between national developments, regional cooperation, and societal challenges, and will stimulate the further development of palliative care and support as part of the broader care, welfare, and social domains.
Subsidy scheme is being revised
A total of €6.7 million is available over the coming years for the activities outlined in the future agenda. In addition, €12 million is available annually for various palliative care institutions, and €56 million in 2027 for the Subsidy Scheme for Palliative Terminal Care and Spiritual Care at Home.
The aim of this scheme is, among other things, to encourage the deployment of expert volunteers in palliative terminal care and the provision of spiritual care in the home setting. The scheme has just been evaluated and is currently being revised to contribute more effectively to these goals in the future.
