Implementing interprofessional teams inspired by Buurtzorg: A case study of two Danish Municipalities

Older people make up an increasing proportion of the population as we all live longer, more suffer from led to an increased focus on the organization of home care and home nursing. The paper presents a case study of two Danish municipalities that have initiated a process of implementing interprofessional care teams inspired by the Dutch Buurtzorg model in home-care and home nursing. Though Buurtzorg’s results are widely recognized, there are serious doubts if the approach can be readily imported into the Danish
context. This led many municipalities to explore different adaptations of the Dutch model. The paper has two main elements: first, a description of the different interpretations that each municipality has about what
might be useful for them based on the model; second, an analysis of the early experiences of the staff and managers involved in the process. In both municipalities, the focus on more flexibility, self-visitation, and accountability, among other things, has brought about change, and a closer look at these results will allow us to examine the challenges associated with increasing these results, and secondly, it will allow us to ask
what exactly are the challenges that can be solved by applying partial and adapted elements of the Buurtzorg approach.