Informative Materials – Belgium
Who can work as a caregiver in Belgium
The Belgian LTC system can be characterised as a mixed system with extensive publicly financed formal care services which complement significant informal care provided mainly within the family. since LTC services provided through the health insurance system only cover nursing care (as well as paramedical and rehabilitation care) and part of personal care to dependent persons, a whole range of services is organised and provided at the regional and local level. Residential care in Belgium synthesis
If you are a caring person and want to become a caregiver for an elderly person you can take courses. You must meet the following conditions:
- You can follow the course from 15 years until you are 25 years old.
- If you are 15, you must have followed at least the first 2 years of full-time education.
- If you are older than 18 you must be eligible for a paid job. Therefore, you must be physically fit and have permission to work in Belgium.
A training takes average Two to three years.
De training caring Part-time education is linear, which means that you can enter at any time of the year but graduate only on 30 June.
The training is a good preparation for the training healthcare professional.
To obtain a Certificate of Care, you must also have the competencies of Logistics Assistant. If you have prior knowledge in Nutrition & Care, you can take the acquired competencies with you to the Caregiver course.
Sufficient knowledge of Dutch is a requirement, since communication with the care recipient and with your teammates is very important. Nursing care for the elderly
The following in-kind long-term care benefits are available in Belgium.
- Non-medical home care services are regulated and organised by the Communities. These services include help with personal care tasks (e.g. help with eating or moving around, hygienic help) along with instrumental help (e.g. light housework, preparing meals). This can be done by any person, even without special training.
- Medical home nursing care consists of services such as wound dressing and drug administration. This can be done only by a person with medical education (nurses)
- Day care and “short-stay” care centres provide nursing and personal care to elderly persons for whom home care is temporarily unavailable. This is meant for people who do not need intensive medical care but who require care or supervision and aid in the activities of daily living. In such a places, working requirements depend on type of work and in general are as above (medical care can be done only by qualified nurses)
- Elder persons who do not require much care can also be serviced in a semi-residential setting, where individual living arrangements are combined with collective facilities such as meal services or home help services. These arrangements are commonly known as “service flats”. Qualifications needed to work in such place depends on type of work – as above.
More information – Country profiles
How to get a nursing diploma in Belgium
(there is a special king of nursing – Geriatric nursing, dedicated for people who would like to work with elder people) – more information
Recognition of skills and qualifications acquired through non-formal and informal learning
If you are a non-formal caregiver for someone from your family or friends, you can apply for receiving an official status of caregiver. – more information, Statuses, rights and benefits of caregivers
Training, courses, certificates
training, caregivers, Caregiver for Elderly job in Belgium, wetakecare
Information for foreigners who want to work as caregivers in Belgium
Most people who want to train, work or set up as self-employed in Belgium will need to have the qualifications they gained abroad recognised. There is special Unit – The Belgian Support Centre for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications, where you can write to receive individual assessments if your diploma and experiences are enough to work in Belgium. belgian-support-centre
Applying for permanent provision of services
If you are moving long-term to another EU country and you want to practice your regulated profession there, you will need to apply for professional recognition: professional qualifications
Employment conditions in Belgium; recognition procedures for the purpose of work; language requirements; employment regulations
Foreign workers who wish to work in Belgium as employees (i.e. working under an employment contract) must hold a work permit. This does not apply to nationals of the Member States of the European Economic Area or Swiss nationals.
More information about procedures for receiving visa and work permission in Belgium- belgium-visa
Working hours
In Belgium, the legal working week is 38 hours. Apart from the legal working week, enterprises may alter working time in line with their companies’ requirements. Workers may work appropriately remunerated overtime.
Language Requirements in Belgium
There are no formal requirements for language skill in profession of caregiver doing basic services. However it is much better to communicate in the language of people that you are caring for. For medical services – proper language skills are required.
Belgium has three official languages, which include:
- Dutch:The Flemish community speaks Dutch and lives in the capital city of Brussels and the Flanders region to the north.
- French:It is the primary language of the Walloon region, which lies south of Brussels.
- German:Most German speakers in Belgium reside in the southeast region.
Specifics eg- trainings for persons who come from specific countries to Belgium (as low skilled foreigners)
- Language trainings: more informations
- Szhort curses – more informations
Information on earning
A caregiver’s average annual salary range is between €25,901 and €39,464. It depends on the level of education and lenght of experience. More details caregiver-salary-in-belgium, more informations
Job offers
Due to the fact that Belgium is divided into 4 autonomous regions, each of them has separate employment offices (also known as Public Employment Services):
- Actiris (Brussels) – serves clients with knowledge of Flemish and French
- VDAB (Flanders) – serves clients with knowledge of the Flemish language – VDAB (Flanders)
- Le Forem (Wallonia) – serves clients with knowledge of French – le forem
- ADB (German Community) – serves clients with knowledge of the German language – https://adg.be/desktopdefault.aspx
- ONEM (national employment office) – https://www.onem.be/
Through them, you can search for job offers, take part in training and get professional help in finding employment.
Links to agencies
Some statistic data
- Care for the elderly – health-system-performance-assessment
- Number of caregivers working in Belgium in 2020, by professional status – caregiver-by-professional-status-belgium
- Caring, employment and health among adults of working age: evidence from Britain and Belgium – eurpub
- Current Long-term care provision, towards carer – friendly societies – country-profiles
- Working Together Better Partnership – Why carers count?
- Why carers count? – about-carers
Link to relevant websites in country
- Federal public service – ibz
- If you are looking to get a Belgium work visa – belgium-visa
- Work Permits –single-permit-work-permit
- INFORMATION ABOUT BELGIUM – principles-countries-history
- Status, rights and benefits of informal caregivers – services-ma-mutuelle
Useful materials
- 3 sisters association supporting caregivers in French – speaking Belgium – aidants-proches
- Specific areas of care health-system-performance-assessment
- Indicators on care for the elderly health-system-performance-assessment