[A new playing field emerges in care and welfare]

Two distinct changes in Dutch care provisions coincide. On the one hand emancipated civilians want to take, or are stimulated to take, more responsibility, on the other budget cuts restrict access to and the quality of care. Self-help and informal care are back on the agenda. As a consequence a new playing field emerges that requires politicians and professionals to balance their care responsibilities with the demands of informal care, social networks, housing, financial capacities, formal public care provisions, and the mechanism that are able to craft and calibrate these different demands. As a result of this new emerging playing field more and more civilians are organizing themselves in voluntary care associations, which are based on the principles of reciprocity and mutuality. They contribute to the dynamics of the new playing field by forcing national and local politicians and care professionals to reconsider their positions and policies. Their demand for more tailored care services requires a pro-active, risk taking, and innovative attitude of those responsible.