TOGETHER STRENGTH!

By Digna / September 29, 2022

A current example project
based on the Rechtmakers method.

What was it about?

In short: residents of Sluis will now have easy access to quality daytime activities, without a care requirement. The municipality will pay the care providers a fixed amount for this, which will be converted from the Social Support Act (WMO) to a General Provision. This provision is therefore not linked to clients, the number of hours, etc.

This means a win-win for everyone in many ways, such as:

For residents: Those who want and need it can simply walk into the day care locations without all the bureaucracy and (often stressful) dinner table conversations. They can experience where they feel most at home; this can even be at a combination of locations. This reduces the stigma of day care, making it all more "normal" and closer to home.

For healthcare providers: in this new format, they gain knowledge from and with each other and exchange expertise on the various target groups; they know each other's strengths and they provide complementary support.

For everyone: collaboration without time-consuming administrative burdens, with professional expertise and ethics at the core. There's room for new initiatives to improve services from the client's perspective and make them more accessible.

For the community in Sluis and the surrounding area: more people can access daytime activities for the same amount of money (and potentially develop their skills further, for example, towards paid employment). This also means gains in other areas. Think of: less loneliness, increased well-being, fewer neighborhood disputes, reduced pressure on informal caregivers, and reduced crime.

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This turnaround required a lot from everyone, both the municipality and the nine healthcare organisations in total.

Among other things: (1) adjusting images: not seeing each other as competitors but as colleagues and building trust with each other (2) defining a clear and shared goal and a clear vision (3) being transparent with each other, also about difficult issues (3) making concrete with each other what this means for daily practice and how are we going to organize this: together as providers and what does the municipality do? (4) giving commitment: we are going to do this together and we are not going to step out.

Process

During the coronavirus pandemic (2021), we started with "exploratory" online meetings – which was at odds with a key principle of Rechtmakers: contact before contract! As a project leader, I felt rather disoriented by those chatting, or even silent, faces behind computer screens.

To collaborate sustainably, you really need to be able to look each other in the eye, meet, and get to know each other. You need to build a foundation of trust. As soon as possible, we started organizing "real" meetings. The healthcare organizations also visited each other's practices. Then things became more lively and gained momentum. I, too, visited all the "providers" on-site to see and understand the context, and I found it inspiring. They are diverse organizations focusing on different target groups, all equally valuable.