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Diverssensitive palliative care through “Amori”

In the hyper-diverse context of Brussels, many people experience major barriers to care, including end-of-life care. We want to do something about this with our new initiative “Amori.

Amori is composed of three meanings:

• Memento mori – “Remember to die,” or: remember that life is finite.
• Amor – Love.
• Amor fati – Love of fate, accepting life as it comes.

Amori thus stands for: to surround with love at the end of life.

Our initiative aims to bring palliative care closer to people, in the neighborhoods where they live, more accessible and inclusive. Through neighborhood volunteers – our bridge figures – we support Brussels residents with incurable diseases and their loved ones. With Amori, we build a warm network around people just when it matters most.

What

Amori is a multi-actor initiative pulled by EVA bxl and Fabruka and developed by many partners. It aims to make palliative care in super-diverse Brussels neighborhoods more accessible and inclusive by developing a diverse, approachable care network of volunteer bridge figures from the neighborhood. The project targets residents with an incurable illness and their loved ones who have difficulty finding their way to existing palliative care. It also supports healthcare professionals in this context. The model is being tested and scaled up in other neighborhoods in Brussels as an innovative care co-op.

How do we want to work

• Amori becomes a partner in an existing neighborhood care network, of local care and welfare partners, working to create warm and caring neighborhoods
• Volunteer bridge figures are recruited and trained in diverse palliative care support for families, before, during and after death. They are the glue between patient, family and healthcare professionals. They surround the family and go out on a limb:
  • Mapping and strengthening the informal network
  • Providing a listening ear, unraveling the care question
  • signpost them to healthcare structures and refer them to appropriate healthcare professionals, information on patient rights, early care plans
  • Making necessary and existing information accessible
  • guide healthcare professionals in a hyper-diverse context
  • sensitize the environment (especially with sick children)
  • decrease access to (local) leisure offerings for patient and caregiver
• Through activities and outreach: detect end users and increase expertise on end of life among residents and local partners (reduce taboo) ism experts

Where do we stand today?

Amori is in full development, through our 5i approach. We are in talks with partners to launch in a specific neighborhood in Brussels during 2026. Together, we are making care more humane and inclusive.

“I had previously wanted to know at the GP or hospital that such a thing as palliative care existed. Thanks to Carmen, my son’s psychologist, I only came to Omega vzw (4 years too late). I knew nothing about palliative status or VAPH budget. So I did miss out. I have many worries and challenges,
but I think ‘tout doucement les choses vont s’arranger'”.

Jissel is 41 years old and is from the Dominican Republic. In 2020, she contracted the diagosis of ALS. She lies in a hospital bed, unable to move, but can only talk and move her head. Her children, ages 13 and 18, are her caregivers.