Letting go of familiar routines
Do you know that feeling of excitement mixed with uncertainty? That moment when you can feel something new taking shape. You take the first steps, curious and a little nervous, trusting that you’ll learn something new along the way.
That same sense of excitement and uncertainty can be felt in care for older people. The sector is changing, calling for new ways of working and collaborating, and the courage to let go of familiar routines. It can take some figuring out, but it also creates space.
Care professionals are increasingly joining forces with designers. A design-led approach helps break familiar patterns, explore new possibilities and try things out without knowing exactly where they will lead.
In A Healthy Sense of Excitement, six projects show what can happen when care professionals and designers venture into the unknown together, with courage, curiosity and a sense of fun. We invite you to do the same. Because those small moments of courageous curiosity together can spark something bigger.
Six different perspectives on care for older people
These six projects each approach the present and future of care for older people from a different angle:
At Cordaan, art and care come together in collaboration with ROC Amsterdam-Flevoland: care professionals develop creative skills, while arts professionals learn about care, creating space for personalised, meaningful care.
Sustainable working is about big plans as well as small, everyday choices. Which way of working supports high-quality care while also being demonstrably more sustainable? Humanitas Rotterdam and Sustainers are making this change tangible and practical together.
Pieter van Foreest and Muzus bring different visions of the future to life, creating a starting point for local partners to engage in dialogue. What kind of future do they want to create together, and what roles and responsibilities come with it?
With the AI mirror developed by Surplus AI Lab and Goodnews, Boldly, you meet an older version of yourself. The choices you make open up conversations about autonomy, quality of life and the role of human-centred AI.
Innovation moves faster when you do it together. At Watsnjoe, care professionals from Thebe, Mijzo and De Wever work alongside designers and experts on questions arising from everyday practice: start small, test, learn and share insights.
Good care for older people starts with a place where you genuinely want to live. Over&Weer works together with residents, loved ones and professionals to create living environments centred around wellbeing, connection and personal autonomy.
These projects embrace a spirit of challenging convention, question the things we take for granted, spark curiosity and invite you to get involved. Step into the world of design and discover what is possible, and what is already happening, in care for older people, and experience the healthy tension for yourself!
