Ages et Vie: Personalised care and a richer social life for the elderly in rural France

Outcomes

The project has created significant win-wins for all those involved. As Pierre Contoz, Mayor of the village of Montfaucon, summarises it : "Our two new Ages&Vie homes are accomodating 18 elderly residents in the village without having any impact on our budget. Furthermore, they have created six jobs which have not cost the local council anything".

Most importantly, residents benefit from a higher quality of life than in a traditional care home, as they are not treated as dependent service users. Moreover, living in an Ages&Vie home allows them to make significant savings. On top of that, their status as co-employers of the staff gives them more self-esteem and ensures that ‘their’ staff are responsive to their needs.
For the professional support staff, these jobs are well paid and carried out in an attractive rural environment, less stressful than in a big city.

Last but not least, the founders Nicolas Perrette and Simon Vouillot (2003) emphasize: "The lifestyle of tomorrow must not isolate generations – rather, it must bring them together. Standardised solutions are no longer suitable for the increasing diversity of individual needs".

Today, there are eight Ages&Vie homes within a radius of 100 km of the city of Besançon in Eastern France. Given the favourable results, one may wonder why this kind of initiative is not spreading faster – some of the barriers and perceived risks of this care concept are discussed in the ‘Lessons learnt’ section.