In April 2025, a four-member team from the SPUR project traveled to Geel, Belgium, for four days. The aim of the study trip was to gain insights into the local practice of accommodating people with mental illnesses in private households. This form of living with host families has been established in Geel for centuries and is still practiced today.
Participants included Tania Berger and Christopher Tupy from the University for Continuing Education Krems, Michaela Moser from the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, and Tim Brunöhler from the Bertha von Suttner Private University St. Pölten. On site, they learned about the historical development and organizational framework of foster family care. They also gained insights into the realities of life for people who are currently involved in this system. Two of the travelers had a basic knowledge of Dutch, which facilitated communication with their local counterparts.
The activities in Geel were organized by the team at the Public Psychiatric Care Center (Openbaar Psychiatrisch Zorgcentrum / OPZ). In addition to an introductory morning with a presentation, discussion round, and tour of the OPZ campus, patients were invited in advance to take part in discussions with the SPUR team. A total of 17 people accepted this invitation and met with the team either individually or in pairs with a member of their foster family.
Insights into personal living and life stories
The encounters with the people sometimes took place at their homes, sometimes at the OPZ, in a café, or at a place that was significant to them in their lives (e.g., for volunteer work). The conversations often lasted an hour or longer. This gave SPUR team members first-hand insight into everyday life in the community, how the guests and families came together, and what did not work well in previous families (or with previous guests). They were told how the OPZ's close-knit support and emergency system works in practice and who can ask whom for help and when. They learned about the biographies of people from Geel itself or from far(ther) away and why they feel at home and safe in Geel. The people described the differences they perceived between Geel and other neighboring towns of comparable size. Older residents and those with a family history in Geel in particular were able to recount what they still knew about the foster family care system in the days of their parents or grandparents. Combined with the information provided by the OPZ about its other services, the SPUR team was able to gain a nuanced impression. The project goal of bringing ideas back to Lower Austria about how to achieve more individually tailored and community-integrated living was always kept in mind.
A visit to the Gasthuis Museum in Geel, which documents the history of host families and pilgrimage, rounded off the stay.
The impressions and insights gathered are currently being incorporated into the evaluation of (all) the learning journeys as part of the SPUR project. The aim is to develop recommendations for inclusive forms of housing in the context of Lower Austria. The experiences from Geel provide valuable impetus in this regard – especially with regard to smaller, communally organized forms of housing for people with mental illnesses.
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