Table 1 Characteristics of the Dutch nursing home setting

In the Netherlands, older persons who need continuous high-level care or supervision can be admitted to a nursing home. Nursing homes provide care to older people with multiple and complex care needs that cannot be fulfilled by home care [10]. A specialized elderly care physician (in Dutch: specialist ouderengeneeskunde) is responsible for the medical care of nursing home residents. Elderly care physicians are certified after a three-year specialty training program in medicine for older adults, in addition to their basic university training as a medical doctor [11, 12].

 In the year 2019, approximately 115,000 persons lived in a nursing home, almost three quarters of whom were female. The mean age of nursing home residents was 85 years in 2019 [13].