Twenty one year old nursing student Teun Toebes decided to rent a room in a care home to find out what it's like to live in one as a resident not as a nurse or a carer. He was curious... and he was broke. The experience changed his life, as well as the lives of his new housemates. He introduced Friday drinks, camping evenings, trips to visit grown up children, and he reintroduced pleasure in the small things in life a laugh, a dance, a cup of good coffee, a chance to sit in the sun. As he became embedded in the community Teun became, however, devastated by the insight gained; at how society and the care system diminishes people living with dementia. A number 1 bestseller in the Netherlands, The Housemates is his story of his year of being a housemate and a heartfelt cry for change in how we care for the elderly.
