Artigenda
Dutch Informal Care Day
When: Annually, November 10.
On November 10 every year in the Netherlands, it is a day to remember all informal carers. This day is known as the Dag van de Mantelzorg, meaning: the Day of the Informal Care. This day focuses on awareness of informal care, including the necessity and importance of informal care.
What is informal care?
Mantelzorg is the Dutch word for informal care. It’s unpaid support provided by family members, friends or neighbours to individuals with chronic illnesses, disabilities, or other long-term care needs. The term “mantelzorg” was introduced in the Netherlands in 1972 and translates to “cloak care,” symbolizing the protective and encompassing nature of this type of care.
Informal caregivers are typically not professionally trained but choose to care for their loved ones out of personal commitment and affection. This care can include a wide range of activities, from household tasks and personal care to emotional support and companionship. Unlike professional care, which is delivered by trained and paid personnel, informal care is voluntary and often arises out of existing relationships.
The role of an informal caregiver is multifaceted and can be both rewarding and challenging. Caregivers often balance their caregiving responsibilities with other personal and professional commitments, which can lead to physical and emotional strain. Despite these challenges, many find deep fulfilment in providing care and support to someone they care about.
In the context of Dutch law, mantelzorg is defined as voluntary and unpaid care provided to people with physical, mental, or social-psychological disabilities within their family, household, or social network. This care goes beyond what is typically expected of partners, parents, children, or other housemates.
It’s important to distinguish informal care from volunteering. While both are unpaid, volunteering is usually chosen freely and can be stopped at any time, whereas informal care often arises out of necessity and a sense of duty, making it difficult to simply walk away from.
Not tied to age, religion, orientation or gender identity
Informal care is not tied to age, race, religion, orientation or gender identity. Informal care is universal. Informal care is giving love and sometimes recognising that the limitations of our healthcare system make caregiving necessary. It makes this an obligation. Only this is not how a carer will describe it. It is a matter of dedication. That is a better description.
It’s a huge responsibility for those providing care. It also brings a lot of stress sometimes. Therefore, this day is very important. As a country, it’s a good moment to not only reflect. It’s also a moment to pay tribute to those providing care. Care that’s given from the heart, in most cases. Not that standard care isn’t something that’s done without dedication or commitment. Let’s not forget that those providing informal care don’t receive any form of payment for the care they provide.
Dutch government
Mantel Care Day is being supported by more and more organisations. Not only by organisations. The government also sees the importance of this day. Logical, because one in three Dutch people aged 16 and older provides informal care. That is five million people. Of these five million people, 830,000 are informal carers for more than three months. Are you a carer for more than three months and do you do this for more than eight hours a week? Congratulations, then you are a mantelzorger.
It is tough, with 9.1% of those who provide informal care feel heavily burdened. Fortunately, though, five in six informal carers enjoy the fun moments of caring. These figures, by the way, come from the website MantelzorgNL. This website is only available in Dutch and the figures date back to 2019.
More information
Since the Dag van de Mantelzorg is a Dutch special day, the information about this day is available mainly in Dutch. Artigenda decided to provide additional information in English. Not everyone decided to do this. Therefore, the following links point to Dutch based websites. The information on the websites is written in Dutch.
