What is ReloCare?
ReloCare, short for Relocating Care, is a research project that studies the recent trend to relocate seniors to care homes abroad, where the quality of care is high yet costs are lower. Our team researches this trend in Central and Eastern European countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia), where care homes recruit potential residents from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
What is our Aim?
We aim to understand what role care relocation plays in the current reorganisation of senior care within Europe.
Our Project
What is ReloCare?
ReloCare, short for Relocating Care, is a research project that studies the recent trend to relocate seniors to care homes abroad, where the quality of care is high yet costs are lower. Our team researches this trend in Central and Eastern European countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia), where care homes recruit potential residents from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
What is our Aim?
We aim to understand what role care relocation plays in the current reorganization of senior care within Europe.
Our Project
What is ReloCare?
ReloCare, short for Relocating Care, is a research project that studies the recent trend to relocate seniors to care homes abroad, where the quality of care is high yet costs are lower. Our team researches this trend in Central and Eastern European countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia), where care homes recruit potential residents from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
What is our Aim?
We aim to understand what role care relocation plays in the current reorganization of senior care within Europe.
How do we work?
ReloCare is an ethnographic project. At its core are context-sensitive, in-depth case studies. To gain a comprehensive picture of care relocation practices within Europe, we follow and talk to all parties involved, such as seniors and their family members, agencies, care home owners, care professionals, and representatives of local communities. The first phase of our research entails a survey of care homes which have, had, or are planning to have German-speaking residents. During the second phase, we will visit several of these homes, respecting local Covid-19 regulations. In the third phase, we will conduct in-depth studies of selected care homes and their local environments.
Who are we?
We are an international research team based at the University of Amsterdam. As a team, we complement one another with our varied language skills and thorough knowledge of the different contexts we study. We are furthermore supported by various experts. At the University of Amsterdam, our team is part of the anthropology department programme group Health, Care and the Body. The experts in this programme have long-standing experience with research on long-term and dementia care and work closely and collaboratively with care homes, families, and individuals with dementia.
Who is funding us?
ReloCare received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 949200). The ERC’s mission is to encourage the highest quality research in Europe through competitive funding and to support investigator-driven frontier research across all fields, on the basis of scientific excellence.
Interested in participating?
If you are interested in learning more about our project, participating in the research, or simply would like to share an experience, please contact:
How do we work?
ReloCare is an ethnographic project. At its core are context-sensitive, in-depth case studies. To gain a comprehensive picture of care relocation practices within Europe, we follow and talk to all parties involved, such as seniors and their family members, agencies, care home owners, care professionals, and representatives of local communities. The first phase of our research entails a survey of care homes which have, had, or are planning to have German-speaking residents. During the second phase, we will visit several of these homes, respecting local Covid-19 regulations. In the third phase, we will conduct in-depth studies of selected care homes and their local environments.
Who are we?
We are an international research team based at the University of Amsterdam. As a team, we complement one another with our varied language skills and thorough knowledge of the different contexts we study. We are furthermore supported by various experts. At the University of Amsterdam, our team is part of the anthropology department programme group Health, Care and the Body. The experts in this programme have long-standing experience with research on long-term and dementia care and work closely and collaboratively with care homes, families, and individuals with dementia.
Who is funding us?
ReloCare received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 949200). The ERC’s mission is to encourage the highest quality research in Europe through competitive funding and to support investigator-driven frontier research across all fields, on the basis of scientific excellence.
Interested in participating?
If you are interested in learning more about our project, participating in the research, or simply would like to share an experience, please contact: