Palliative Day Care in Belgium: from terminal care towards care for incurable patients Wim Distelmans, M.D. Ph.D., Sabien Bauwens, MSc, Magrit De Maegd, R.N. Though palliative day care provision has expanded rapidly in the UK, it is not an example that has been much followed by other European countries. In Belgium however, from the opening of the day care facility TOPAZ, a growing attendance of patients could be observed. It was also noticed that patients at an earlier (even still potentially curable) stage of their illness or where prognosis is unclear also find the way to TOPAZ at different moments of severe psychic or physical distress in the course of their treatment or evolution of disease. It may suggest that the day centre model provide a ‘transition environment’ for patients moving from curative to palliative care and so leading to ‘continuing care’, one of the well known issues of psychosocial oncology. It was even occasionally observed that some patients attending TOPAZ survived markedly longer than could be expected from the staging of their disease. It is currently being investigated if this kind of social support has a bearing on survival.