Samenvatting

Bad Nieuweschans is one of the ageing villages in Oldambt, about a quarter or the population is older than 65. In communities such as Bad Nieuweschans there exists a risk of isolation and exclusion of the elderly. These risks could be kept to a minimum by focusing on active ageing however this concept does not really play in rural areas yet. From the perspective of Facility Management, hospitality has been researched as a value of social participation aimed at active ageing.

The objective of this research is to provide the municipality Oldambt, stakeholders, and social entrepreneurs in Bad Nieuweschans with recommendations on how to improve Active Ageing in a rural community by clarifying how social participation can be stimulated by hospitality. The following research question has been drawn up for this: How can hospitality add value to social activities in a community in order to promote active ageing? The village Bad Nieuweschans is used as case study.

Digitalization of the society is a trend which is growing in popularity amongst elderly. Policies regarding active ageing are developing on national level. Globalization is a growing hospitality trend which involves certain challenges. The conclusions from the interviews evidence that the hospitality themes People, Process and Product are relatively highly implemented in the organisations, and Place relatively low. The results of the survey posit that the current participation / non-participation in social activities is almost evenly distributed. There is a group to distinguish where there is a tendency that the groups find hospitality important in social activities. Respondents would like to be better informed regarding social activities, receive a personal invitation, or be picked up at home. This indicates that attending social activities does contribute to the active ageing of people. In a village where everyone knows each other and the range of social activities is limited, hospitality could be used as a means for the people who would like to participate in a social activity. Hospitality could be used by organisations in order to help convince people to take part in social activities. Certain obstacles will be removed by hospitality which could make the step to partake in a social activity smaller.

Based on this it is recommended to pay more specific attention to a senior-friendly policy in Oldambt. In addition, research can be done into offering a special app and transportation service for the elderly. Organisations could develop their hospitality by doing a hospitality check.