On the weekend of October 7 and 8, mental health care in Flanders and Brussels will open its doors wide to everyone during the first Open Spirit Days. Thanks to many fantastic activities, created by participating healthcare organisations, people can discover what’s happening in mental health care, from care in the immediate area to long-stay facilities.
The Open Spirit Days ambassadors are:
• Dirk De Wachter – psychiatrist
• Mathias Virgils – actor, singer
• Guy Swinnen – Singer, Musician, Godfather T-Geek!?
• Salah Su – singer, very crazy godmother!?
Open Spirit Days is Te Gek’s annual campaign!? For 2023. Zorgnet-Icuro supports this campaign.
During the first open spirit days, T-Geek!? Introducing and informing the general public about the different forms of care in mental health care. With this campaign, T-Geek!? Towards accessible mental health care, correct representation, and making mental health a topic of discussion.
A variety of healthcare organizations and initiatives
In more than a hundred locations in Flanders and Brussels, you can experience a full range of activities on 7 and/or 8 October: workshops, therapy sessions, tours, walks, lectures, theatrical performances, information sessions, musical performances, exhibitions, talks, etc.
Participating organizations include psychiatric hospitals, mental health centres, sheltered living initiatives, psychosocial rehabilitation centres, psychiatric nursing homes, forensic psychiatric centres, psychiatric departments in general hospitals, treatment centres, online and telephone helplines, and patient and family organisations. , Herstel Academies, Kwartiermaken, Friends Action, TEJO, OverKop, Care Farms, Flemish Pharmacy Network, Foster Care Flanders, Mental Health Networks, Primary Care Psychologists.
You can find out about the participating organizations and activities taking place here opengeestdagen.be. On this site, you will also get an overview of the different types of help available.
Open Mind Radio
On October 7 and 8 you can via opengeestdagen.be Listen to Radio Open Geest, a live radio broadcast during Open Geest Days. From 10am to 5pm, you’ll hear fascinating conversations and reports with people who work in mental health care, but also with clients, experienced experts and loved ones. In between conversations, you can listen to music that is related to mental health.
Open the door to your head
At the launch of the Open Spirit Days campaign on June 1, 2023, each healthcare organization barricaded its door as a symbolic action. At that time, most of the doors were still empty, but over the weekend of October 7 and 8, many healthcare institutions will display their conceptually decorated doors.
The goal of Open Spirit Days is to open people’s minds. So it’s no coincidence that Open Mind keyrings are designed with a supportive message from one of the four Open Mind Ambassadors and a blank keyring. They can be purchased via participating organizations or via the Te Gek web store!?
Guest Theater Open Music Tour
These early Open Spirit days include the Open Spirit musical theater tour “It Happens in the Best of Families” with Mathias Vergels (known as Lowieke from Thuis) and Manu Hoelbrook. This tour, which breaks the taboos around living with a loved one with mental health problems, takes place in collaboration with Similes and Maandacht, from September 14 to November 16, and visits more than 30 cultural and psychological centres. For information and tickets: https://www.tegek.be/agenda/het-komen-voor-in-de-beste-families
Open Spirit Days take place during the 10 Days of Mental Health – Resilience Together, with many organizations highlighting the importance of mental health and resilience. Both campaigns reinforce each other.
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