Self-reliance of the elderly

More research is needed to determine which interventions are effective to keep the elderly self-reliant. Especially in the social domain there is still untapped potential. The available scientific research, which focused predominantly on medical interventions, has yielded few significant outcomes thus far. Moreover, the target group was often too heterogeneous and research methods were not always appropriate. New research should focus especially on elderly with few resources (including a limited social network), elderly who are temporarily vulnerable (for example due to hospitalisation or loss of a partner), and highly vulnerable elderly who depend on intensive care at home.