🇧🇪 Belgium Ageing, Long-Term Care & Community Support Knowledge Hub

Belgium has one of Europe’s most developed health and social protection systems, but its approach to long-term care is also one of the most institutionally complex. Responsibility is distributed across the federal state, regions and communities, with important differences between Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels and the German-speaking Community. Long-term support combines compulsory health and social protection arrangements, regional funding and administration, home nursing, professional home care, residential care, family caregiving, community services and a mixed public, private and non-profit provider market. The first collection within this Knowledge Hub explores Belgium Ageing, Long-Term Care & Community Support, with additional specialist collections being introduced as the library expands.

Although Belgium has distinctive federal and regional governance arrangements, many of the pressures affecting its long-term care system are shared internationally. These include population ageing, increasing demand for support with frailty and complex needs, financing future care, strengthening home and community-based provision, supporting family carers, addressing workforce shortages, improving coordination between health and long-term care, maintaining affordability, strengthening quality assurance and creating alternatives to traditional residential provision. Belgium therefore offers valuable learning for providers, commissioners, municipalities, government agencies, health organisations, researchers, policymakers and system leaders across different countries.

This Knowledge Hub has been created to examine the Belgian approach to population ageing, long-term care governance, regional variation, funding, social protection, assessment and eligibility, home-based support, residential care, family caregiving, prevention, dementia care, palliative care, workforce development, quality regulation, health and long-term care integration, hospital transitions, housing, digital care, assistive technology, BelRAI assessment, rights, choice, accountability and long-term system reform. It forms part of the interconnected international knowledge library across Impact Guru and Impact Insights Hub, supporting comparison between care systems and the practical application of international learning.

As the collection develops, articles will explore the respective roles of the federal state, Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels and the German-speaking Community; financing and household costs; assessment and access; Flemish Social Protection; home and community care; family carers; prevention and healthy ageing; residential long-term care; dementia and complex needs; palliative and end-of-life care; workforce recruitment and retention; nursing and professional roles; health and long-term care integration; hospital discharge and rehabilitation; BelRAI; digital technology; age-friendly housing; quality and outcomes; financial sustainability and the future direction of Belgian long-term care. The aim is to build a practical, evidence-informed resource that explains how national and regional policy, funding, providers, professionals, families, technology, governance and evidence interact to support older people and communities.

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