Who and what
What do we do & for whom
What do we do?
As a network organisation, VIVEL contributes to the delivery of accessible quality care and support in Flanders and Brussels.
We believe that close cooperation between all care stakeholders is necessary to ensure better health and welfare for each citizen and to ensure the optimum delivery of help and support to people with care and support needs.
Cooperation as part of a closely knit network of care and support centred around the individual with care and support needs has the potential to improve that person’s individual welfare and their physical and mental health. Which is why VIVEL fosters participatory and cross-sectoral cooperation.
VIVEL is a joint initiative of:
- care and welfare institutions;
- representatives of patients, users and informal caregivers;
- centres of expertise;
- local authorities.
Alongside these initiators, VIVEL works closely with many other partners, depending on the context.
Who are we doing it for?
VIVEL acts to support broad-based primary care in the healthcare and welfare sectors.
We support all formal and informal care providers, the care boards and the (future) regional care platforms. We work to support cooperation between the various primary care stakeholders, providing them with tools to improve the welfare and physical and mental health of the population in their region as a whole, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable groups.
The Quintuple Aim
At VIVEL, we use the Quintuple Aim as the touchstone for all our strategies and decisions. This is one based on the Quadruple Aim
Our remits
VIVEL has 6 core remits:
VIVEL is a flexible network organisation with a small professional staff. We work with the people on the ground through project groups.
The support of the care boards and their staff is currently VIVEL’s principal remit.
- The gathering and disclosure of information and data, to be actively made available to all care providers.
In order to be able to conduct sound policies that are based on people’s real needs and requirements in the primary care zones, the care boards require solid, usable data. VIVEL is looking to make these data available using a clear and easy reference dashboard. - The development of evidence-based strategies, methodologies and implementation tools in support (of the organisation) of primary care delivery. VIVEL sets out to find good practices, rounds them up and makes them available to the care boards in digital form. This enables care boards to learn from one another and share good practices between themselves. This information is largely collated via learning networks. With the integration of the Vlaams Expertisepunt Mantelzorg (Flemish Expertise Point for Informal Care), we also collate methodologies and tools for informal caregivers.
- Advice, coaching, training and raising awareness. VIVEL provides tailored support with practical advice, coaching guidance and training. The other remits equally contribute to these activities. The interaction and cooperation with the care boards is key: the needs, developments and solutions alike are locally aligned.
- Fostering innovation. VIVEL is the first organisation to bring together such a wealth of know-how and expertise from the care and welfare sectors. This is innovative in itself. In due course, the plan is to make all information available to all care providers across a new platform. At its launch, this platform will only have a series of basic features, yet our ambition is to develop this interactive tool into a digital information beacon for everything touching on primary care.
- Creating and following up on the accessibility and quality of primary care in Flanders. Operating in tandem with the Vlaams Instituut voor Kwaliteitszorg (VIKZ) (Flemish Institute for Quality Care), VIVEL is working on quality primary care indicators. As a first step, we are in the process of devising a basic framework with a clear vision, strategy and methodology.
- Advising the Flemish Government. In the first place, this advisory function chiefly focuses on flagging up needs and sharing practical experiences from the primary care zones. This remit is set to broaden in times to come. VIVEL acts as the link between the needs, experiences and good practices of the primary care sector and the government, which establishes the regulatory framework.
Team - who does what
- +32 470 03 86 99
- elien@vivel.be
- Elien Geeraerts
- +32 472 88 95 14
- lie@vivel.be
- Lie Verrijssen
- +32 474 48 74 90
- geert@vivel.be
- Geert Vanhorenbeeck
- +32 456 36 23 49
- Marlies@vivel.be
- Marlies De Clerck
- +32 479 82 83 39
- sofie@vivel.be
- +32 472 77 47 94
- sjoert@vivel.be
- Sjoert Holtackers
- +32 474 53 69 06
- hilde@vivel.be
- Hilde Linssen
- +32 492 57 21 31
- merel@vivel.be
- Merel Thiers
- +32 479 89 14 83
- anneleen@vivel.be
- Anneleen Torfs
- +32 498 34 98 56
- yara@vivel.be
- +32 456 03 25 17
- hannelore@vivel.be
- Hannelore Storms
- +32 468 16 32 85
- indra@vivel.be
- Indra Kotsoane
Network
VIVEL vzw is a partner organisation that has been recognised and subsidised by the Flemish Government.
VIVEL has a General Meeting and a Board of Directors. Both bodies are made up of representatives from:
- the health care sector
- the welfare sector
- the local authorities
- the people with care and support needs
- the centres of expertise and training centres
- the hospitals.
The chair is held by an independent Chairman, which ensures VIVEL’s neutrality.
VIVEL closely involves the sector in its operations. For this reason, we organise strategic meetings with all relevant stakeholders at regular intervals, in addition to the learning networks and project groups that are in place.
VIVEL’s Board of Directors – list of directors
Cluster | Naam effectieve | Affiliatie | Naam plaatsvervanger | Affiliatie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Welzijnszorg | Ann Baeyens | DMW-VICO -CM | Johan Roels | Zorgnet-Icuro ouderenzorg |
Ewout Vanormelingen | VVDG | Gorik Kaesemans | Zorgnet-Icuro GGZ | |
Anita Cautaers | CAW | Wim Van Campenhout | CAW Halle-Vilvoorde |
Gezondheidszorg | Stefan Teughels | Domus Medica | Stefaan Hanson | FVB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hilde Deneyer | VAN | Dirk Verleyen | FVB | |
Christine Van Cante | Mederi | Koen Lowet | FVB |
Lokale besturen | Peter Cousaert | stafmedewerker VVSG | Griet Briels | VVSG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Elke Verlinden | stafmedewerker VVSG | Hilde Janssens | VVSG | |
Nog te bepalen | – | Bieke Verlinden | Stad leuven |
Gebruikers | Else Tambuyzer | Vlaams Patiëntenplatform | Katty Creytens/Nils Vandeweghe | Netwerk tegen Armoed/Vlaamse Ouderenraad |
|---|
Mantelzorgers/Familie | Naomi De Bruyne | Vlaams Mantelzorg Platform | Mario Schelfout | Vlaams Mantelzorg Platform |
|---|
Vlaamse expertisecentra | Anja Declercq | Steunpunt WVG,
KU Leuven | An De Sutter | Steunpunt WVG, UGent |
|---|
Ziekenhuizen | Margot Cloet | Zorgnet-Icuro | Hilde De Nutte | Zorgnet-Icuro |
|---|
Onafhankelijke leden | Kristof Vanden Berghe | Onafhankelijk lid, voorzitter | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jan De Maeseneer | Onafhankelijk lid | |||
Annick Dermine | Huis voor Gezondheid |
History
The idea for a Vlaams Instituut Voor De Eerste Lijn goes back a long way and is part of the story surrounding the origins of primary care in Flanders.
From as early on as the 1980s, care providers were arguing in favour of an institute that would act to support primary healthcare.
In the 1990s, the SITs or Samenwerkingsinitiatieven in de Thuiszorg (Home Care Collaborative Schemes) saw the light of day. The SITs were locally organised, but also had consultation bodies in place at provincial and Flemish level. But the idea of a ‘Flemish institute’ was left on the backburner for a while longer, even when the focus widened and the SITs folded into the SELs Samenwerkingsinitiatieven Eerstelijnsgezondheidszorg or SELs (Primary Healthcare Collaborative Schemes) in 2010.
Primary care conferences
Its was Flemish Welfare, Public Health and Family Affairs Minister Jo Vandeurzen who set the reform of primary healthcare on the rails. To this end, he organised the first primary healthcare conference on 11 December 2010. This is where the first seeds were sown for the current reform.
One of the results to come out of the primary healthcare conference was the launch of the Samenwerkingsplatform Eerstelijnsgezondheidszorg (Primary Healthcare Collaborative Platform) in 2011. This consultation platform was made up of representatives from the healthcare and welfare sectors. This was the first time that primary care was given its own, cross-sector representation at policy level in Flanders.
From 2014, the 6th round of the reform of the Belgian state devolved further powers to the communities, in amongst other aspects in the area of the organisation of primary care. This in turn led to a thorough reform of the world of primary care: Six working groups set about tackling a variety of different topics whilst provincial consultation rounds and a scientific think-tank considered the results. The final result was presented in the shape of a policy vision document at the primary care conference of 16 February 2017. The document integrated two major approaches: on the one hand there is the team-based cooperation surrounding and together with the individual with the care and support needs and, on the other, the population-focused responsibility aimed at improving the accessibility and quality of primary care for the population of the primary care zone.
A Flemish Institute for Primary Care
The policy vision document sparked various actions. One of which was the establishment of a Vlaams Instituut voor De Eerste Lijn. Further to a thorough preparatory phase involving all stakeholders, ‘VIVEL vzw’ (Vivel not-for-profit organisation) was established on 14 January 2019. On 22 February 2019, the organisation’s bylaws were published in the Belgian Official Gazette. In May 2019, VIVEL was recognised by the Flemish Government as a partner organisation in the field of primary health and social care. VIVEL went operational in September 2019.
The way in which VIVEL is governed and operates is decided in unison with the sector. VIVEL’s General Meeting and Board of Directors reflect the primary care landscape, including the informal care providers and the local authorities. VIVEL’s members undertake to act as a bridge between VIVEL and their member organisations in the broad sense. Which explains why ideas that have been developed and worked up within VIVEL are able to rely on broad-based support. To ensure this support continues to exist in times to come, VIVEL works closely with the sector, in amongst other things through project groups and learning networks.