A stately country house on the border of Groningen and Haren, Netherlands has recently become a home for people with dementia. Landhuis De Wenakker of Het Buytenhuis offers people with dementia a home, in keeping with the rhythm of life they are used to. They live in comfort in a homely environment surrounded by warmth and care. That makes Het Buytenhuis unique.

De Wenakker’s location manager is Ellie Mattiesing. After college education in nursing and business administration, she was at the bedside for years: “From my education and practical experience, I know how important it is that both the substantive care and the business administration side of care are properly arranged. Certainly if on the one hand you want to provide affordable care and on the other hand you want to use more caregivers, nurses and activity counselors to provide as much and good care as possible. In the future we also hope to welcome volunteers who will do extra activities with our residents for even more personal attention. ”

The initiators of Het Buytenhuis are three people with a heart and passion for good care: home care director and owner of an Alzheimer’s café Hanni van den Broek, care professional and experience expert as caregiver Alfred Boskma and architect Henk Kieft, who has been committed to many social projects for a long time. United Care director, Jan Stevenson, knew the latter from the time they played volleyball together. And before we could contact Het Buytenhuis, Kieft called on his former sports friend.

United Care and Het Buytenhuis discovered they share the same vision on care. In the run-up to the opening, United Care was able to support Het Buytenhuis  through the supply of hygiene equipment, a high-low care bed for the bed & breakfast room and a high-low care bath for the wellness bathroom. The intention of both sides is to continue to work together, by offering solutions based on the specific demand for care from residents. “United Care share our passions. We want the same thing: to offer the best for healthcare, “says Ellie.

United Care and Het Buytenhuis discovered they share the same vision on care. In the run-up to the opening, United Care was able to support Het Buytenhuis  through the supply of hygiene equipment, a high-low care bed for the bed & breakfast room and a high-low care bath for the wellness bathroom. The intention of both sides is to continue to work together, by offering solutions based on the specific demand for care from residents. “United Care share our passions. We want the same thing: to offer the best for healthcare, “says Ellie.

The Buytenhuis officially started on 17 October 2019 with the opening and open house of De Wenakker. According to Ellie, the reactions were purely positive and can be summarized with the words: ‘what a heart-warming environment’. The intention is that the number of locations will expand within the foreseeable future. This will in all cases involve beautiful buildings with a homely design and space for residents to go outside unaccompanied. At the time of opening, six people were already living in De Wenakker. There is room for fifteen residents and five people for day care. Ellie: “Are you interested? Then don’t wait too long to contact us. Because in view of the waiting lists, we expect that all places will be full quickly.

In addition to living and spending the day, Het Buytenhuis also offers a guest accommodation, where people can stay for a maximum of a few weeks, for example to relieve the caregiver. Ellie: “We know from experience how tough the change can be that attracts long-term care for people with dementia to the lives of caregivers. They consider the step of ‘disposing of’ the partner or parent, for example, to be too large and therefore end up in a situation at the expense of themselves. For example, if such an informal caregiver wants to go on holiday to fully charge up, the person suffering from dementia can temporarily live with us in the accommodation. ”

If you want to know more about the options for living, spending the day or staying at Het Buytenhuis, please contact them via info@hetbuytenhuis.nl . You can find more information on the website of Het Buytenhuys.

United Care earlier this year acquired the outstanding shares of OpeMed (Europe) Ltd to form OpeMed (United Care) Ltd. OpeMed now works hand-in-hand with United Care, bringing patient transfer and home adaptaion equipment to provide independance and dignity for the vulnerable members of our society.

Together we are United in Care.