Helga Tjon-A-Kon

My name is Helga Tjon-A-Kon. Since last September, I have once again become a member of ENIEC.
Some of you may recognise me; others may not. That is why I would like to briefly introduce my background, my current work and, above all, the knowledge and experience I would like to share within ENIEC.

My expertise:
Care • Meaning • Culture • Quality
• Palliative and terminal care
• Psychosocial support
• Elderly care and long-term care
• Culturally sensitive care
• Quality, governance and care policy
• Education and professional development
• Research into social and health issues
• Bridging the Netherlands, Suriname and the diaspora

A key principle in my work is that good care goes beyond illness or disability: the person, their life story, culture, relationships and sense of meaning must also be seen and acknowledged.

Roles and positions I currently hold

Stichting Encuentro Zorgt
Governance and quality-related involvement in this small-scale care organisation, with a particular focus on culturally sensitive care and Spanish-speaking care recipients.

Messias Zorg en Welzijn
Quality-related involvement in this small-scale care organisation, with a particular focus on culturally sensitive care and Chinese care recipients.

Edhelmund Research
Director/owner — research and advisory work at the intersection of care, society, policy and culture.

AHAVAS
Working in the areas of care coordination, psychosocial support, quality issues and advising care organisations.

Solopartners
Member of the Members' Council within disability care.

In addition, I am involved in social and policy initiatives relating to Suriname, the diaspora, education, health and social development.

What runs as a common thread through my work?

Keeping sight of the person behind the care need. My work constantly moves between four worlds:

Practice
What is actually happening with the client and their family?

Organisation
How do we organise good, safe and humane care?

Policy & research
What structural causes and solutions do we identify?

Culture & meaning
How do background, identity, migration, family and worldview influence the ways in which people age, experience illness and receive care?

That very connection is important to me. I try not to lose the nursing perspective when I am sitting around a governance table, and conversely, in individual care situations, I try to see which organisational and societal systems are at play.

Why ENIEC again?

I see my renewed membership of ENIEC as an opportunity for:
• international knowledge exchange;
• deepening culturally sensitive and inclusive elderly care;
• sharing knowledge from my practical experience;
• connecting care, research and policy;
• attention to older people with a migration and diaspora background;
• developing international collaboration and research initiatives.