Landscapes of Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Flanders (Belgium)

Western aging policies prioritize aging-in-place, often emphasizing informal care and support. However, organizing informal care at home gives rise to complicated and multilayered negotiations between people and their home environments. This negotiation involves sociocultural, economic, and spatial dimensions, impacting the so-called landscapes of care. Distance, both geographical and emotional, is a key factor in informal care. As the COVID-19 pandemic plunged us into a health crisis unprepared, governmental measures had to be implemented quickly. Older and at-risk persons especially had to keep distance from non-household members. These measures expectedly impacted the existing landscapes of care, especially regarding caring task divisions. This article discusses how landscapes of care were affected in Flanders (Dutch-speaking region of Belgium) during and shortly after its first lockdown. Sixteen in-depth, qualitative digital interviews were conducted as part of an interdisciplinary research project. They explored how social support and informal care networks of community-dwelling older adults might have changed during the pandemic. The findings indicate that informal care and support became more strictly and unilaterally organized within the families with a contraction of social support networks. Therefore, older people, although cared for, were forced into an organized social isolation at home.

"I Could Not Manage This Long-Term, Absolutely Not." Aging in Place, Informal Care, COVID-19, and the Neighborhood in Flanders (Belgium).

Public health and care policies across OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries increasingly encourage aging in place, enabled by both formal care networks, and informal (family) care and social solidarity in the neighborhood. However, little is known about how a person's neighborhood might affect their aging in place. The COVID-19 crisis unintendedly offered a good opportunity to observe the neighborhood's role in the provision of care. Since formal care services were often limited during the lockdown, informal caregiving may have increased. However, intergenerational contacts in and outside of the household were strongly discouraged by governments worldwide, adding another layer of complexity to caregiving. The aim of this qualitative study was to assess how informal caregivers in Flanders managed to provide care to their care receivers, and what role the neighborhood played in this provision of care. Sixteen qualitative Skype and telephone interviews with informal caregivers were conducted between June and December 2020 to understand their experiences and coping strategies. Overall, most respondents increased their frequency of caregiving during the first lockdown. They took on the extra care needs during the lockdown themselves, and did not actively invoke any kind of neighborhood support. The significance of the neighborhood seemingly remained limited. This was often not because no help was offered, but rather due to a sense of pride or the fear of infection, and an increased effort by family caregivers.