More than a million people in Belgium support a parent, child, partner or loved one who is ill, elderly or living with a disability, every single day. An essential role, often taken on naturally and out of sight, but one that can weigh heavily on the personal, social and professional life of those who carry it.
On the occasion of Carers' Week, several MR MPs from Brussels are calling for better recognition and support for these people, notably by strengthening respite care solutions, making their daily lives easier and improving their access to information and existing support. Aurélie Czekalski, Amélie Pans, Loubna Azghoud, Kristela Bytyçi, Françoise Schepmans, Anne-Charlotte d'Ursel and Aline Godfrin set out their proposals in an open letter dedicated to those who take care of others.
Informal carers: taking care of those who take care
More than a million people in Belgium help a parent, child, partner, brother or sister every day. They organise appointments, support care, handle administrative tasks and provide a presence that often makes it possible to stay at home.
Yet many of them do not identify with the term “carer”, because they are simply doing what feels natural to them: being there for someone they hold dear. This is also why their role is often overlooked and remains invisible.
Yet this presence is essential. It allows people who are ill, elderly or living with a disability to keep their bearings, their social ties and, as far as possible, their independence. Informal carers do not replace care professionals: they complement them and contribute, day after day, to preserving the quality of life and autonomy of their loved ones.
This contribution deserves recognition. But above all, it deserves concrete support.
The realities of caring are varied
Caring situations differ, as do the needs. They vary according to the age, illness or disability of the loved one, the intensity of care required, the family structure, the resources available and whether or not a support network exists.
But one thing remains constant: caring comes at a personal cost. It can lead to fatigue, isolation, and giving up one's own wellbeing or leisure time. It can also weigh on professional life: some reduce their working hours, forgo career opportunities or temporarily leave the labour market.
Caring cannot therefore be measured only in hours devoted to a loved one. It is also measured in forgone income, postponed plans, missed professional opportunities and time that can no longer be devoted to one's own life. Supporting carers is not just about giving them extra help. It is also about preventing situations where indispensable solidarity ends up permanently weakening the person who provides it.
We must do more to raise awareness among Actiris, the CPAS and employers about the reality of informal caring. A job should not become a forced sacrifice, either for the carer or for someone seeking to return to work. Adapting support means enabling every carer to reconcile their role with their professional life over the long term.
Being able to breathe in order to keep going
Among the responses we can offer, one deserves a central place: respite care.
Allowing a carer to rest, catch their breath and regain their strength is neither a luxury nor a form of abandoning the person they care for. It is a necessity. No one can be available at every moment, for months or years, without themselves needing a break. Taking a few hours for oneself, sleeping through a night without having to remain constantly alert, running an errand, spending time with one's children or working: these moments may seem trivial. For a carer, they are essential to preserving their wellbeing.
Respite care is exactly that: offering temporary relief so that the carer can catch their breath, knowing that their loved one is being looked after in good conditions. It is not about giving up one's role. It is about having the right conditions to keep fulfilling it over the long term.
In Brussels, various forms of respite care exist, whether temporary accommodation, day or night solutions, family-based care, or initiatives allowing the carer themselves to take a break. However, not all these arrangements meet the same needs and remain tied to specific target groups, conditions and capacity constraints.
This is precisely why it is important to keep developing, maintaining and diversifying this offer. But also to make it clear and accessible enough so that carers can find a solution before reaching the point of exhaustion.
Respite should not come into play only once exhaustion has already set in. It must be made available earlier: before fatigue turns into exhaustion, before isolation turns into loneliness, before caring leads someone to put their entire life on hold. Guaranteeing this respite means recognising a simple reality: in order to keep caring for a loved one, one must also be able to take care of oneself.
Other, simpler levers can also change the daily lives of carers.
Mobility and parking facilities for carers, through a regional exemption card, could easily be put in place.
Information is another decisive lever. All too often, carers discover available support late, after complex procedures, and when they are already overwhelmed and facing urgent needs.
Appointing dedicated carer contacts in hospitals and municipalities, modelled on the disability contact points, would provide a point of contact from the moment a diagnosis is announced, along with support throughout the carer's journey. This also requires strengthening cooperation between health insurance funds and associations, and ensuring that Iriscare systematically informs families of existing support, since it is often carers alone who bear these administrative burdens.
Finally, this requires better preparing tomorrow's professionals: strengthening awareness-raising and both initial and continuing training for students and professionals in the social and healthcare sector, so that they too become trusted figures for carers.
The government of Prime Minister Charles Michel had, at the time, paved the way for recognising carers by creating a status with concrete support proposals. This was a major step forward proposed by the MR. Every level of government must now take this up, to bring this status to life and provide specific support measures. These measures are not exceptional. They mainly require better recognition of carers, timely information, and accessible points of contact and solutions throughout their journey.
Carers' Week is an opportunity to recall an obvious truth: those who take care of others also need to be taken care of.
Aurélie Czekalski, MR Brussels MP, Chair of the Committee on General Bi-communal Affairs, member of the Committee on Health and Assistance to Persons
Amélie Pans, MR Brussels MP, Chair of the Committee on Social Affairs, Social Action, Social Cohesion, Family and Health of the Brussels French-speaking Parliament
Loubna Azghoud, Group Leader and MR Brussels MP in the Brussels Parliament
Kristela Bytyçi and Françoise Schepmans, Vice-Chairs of the Committee on Health and Assistance to Persons of the Joint Community Commission
Anne-Charlotte d'Ursel and Aline Godfrin, MR Brussels MPs, members of the Committee on Health and Assistance to Persons of the Joint Community Commission