# The psychosocial aid response after the 22/03/2016 attacks in Belgium: a community case study

## TL;DR

This study examines the early psychosocial aid response after the 2016 terrorist attacks in Belgium, focusing on who was targeted and how many were reached.

## Contribution

The study provides empirical data on the implementation and reach of early psychosocial care following a major terrorist event.

## Key findings

- Only 62.7% of the 327 targeted individuals were contacted by the CAW after the attacks.
- Most contacts occurred within a month, and the majority of those reached were female and direct victims of the attacks.
- Despite outreach efforts, a significant proportion of potential recipients were not reached.

## Abstract

After the terrorist attacks, early psychosocial care is provided to people considered at risk of developing mental health issues due to the attacks. Despite the clear importance of such early intervention, there is very few data on how this is registered, who is targeted, and whether target-recipients accept such aid.

Using registry data from the Centre General Wellbeingwork (CAW), a collection of centers in the regions Brussels and Flanders that provide psychosocial care, we examined the early psychosocial care response after the terrorist attacks of 22/03/2016 in Belgium.

In total, 327 people were listed to be contacted by the CAW, while only 205 were reached out to (62.7%). Most were contacted within a month (84.9%), and were victims of the attacks (69.8%). Overall, the majority was female (55.6%).

Overall, target recipients were witnesses and survivors of the attacks, though a large proportion of people were not reached by the early outreach.