Flemish Welfare Minister Caroline Gennez wants to turn local service centres into “neighbourhood houses” to better link residents with care and help older and vulnerable people live independently at home for longer, a plan now approved in principle by the Flemish government.
Local service centres are intended as accessible meeting places that strengthen social cohesion in neighbourhoods.
They already focus strongly on older people and vulnerable residents, but under the new model they would work more closely with GPs, home care providers, welfare organisations and volunteers.
In practice, the centres would take a more proactive approach in reaching out to residents so that care needs can be identified earlier and support can be offered before problems escalate.
Care professionals such as occupational therapists would also be able to use the centres as a local base to guide people who want to remain in their own homes for as long as possible.
Gennez said she wanted to give people every opportunity to grow old “in their own home, in their own street and among the people they know.”
“That requires good care, but equally a strong neighbourhood where people know and help one another,” she said.
The minister will work out the reform in more detail in the coming months.
The new framework is expected to be introduced in phases from 2028.
Gennez also plans to allocate additional funding, although the amount still has to be decided in further negotiations.
