Can you present the device to us?
Pierrick Hervéou. We are the hub that intervenes between doctors, their patients and the physical activity structures that can accommodate them in Charente. The objective is to be able to reassure people and say that whatever your age or your pathology, you can start physical activity. We are not about leisure sport but rather about well-being.
Does this concern all audiences?
At the beginning, we only aimed at adults suffering from long-term illnesses or chronic illnesses, but we have been carrying out an experiment for minors in Grand Angoulême for a year. The latest figures for the department date from 2019 but have not improved since then. We then had a quarter of young people who were either underweight or downright overweight and they are the majority. A recent study indicates that over the past 40 years, young people have lost a quarter of their physical capacity. Before, you could have a heart attack at 55, now it's sometimes as early as 35.
What are the effects over the past four years?
Prescription sport has been prescribed since 2016 at the national level and we can consider that Charente has been a good student since 2020. There are 1,800 beneficiaries. 800 this year alone, so we are making strong progress. We have 1,200 people currently being monitored over two years and a dropout rate of only 19%.
Is any type of physical exercise recommended?
We rather adapt to the desires of each person. We then target their health needs and direct them towards our partners in order to improve their endurance capacity, muscular strength, balance or flexibility.
Do you still notice any reluctance among practitioners?
There may be some but it's up to me to put oil in the wheels. The major obstacles at the time were: for whom? How ? To whom? And at what price? We therefore determined the audiences concerned, set up diplomas to supervise the activity and defined prices close to free. This one-stop shop now allows 300 Charente doctors, whether general practitioners or who work in hospitals, to prescribe an average of three prescriptions per year.
How does it work in practice?
When a patient requests it or a doctor recommends it, the two fill out a dedicated form during a traditional consultation which we then collect and which contains my contact details. From there, I direct him towards one of the five sports-health centers [NDLR : Saint-Yrieix, La Rochefoucauld, Chasseneuil, Cognac, Barbezieux] or our other partners. They first do a physical condition assessment and afterwards, we determine their level of motivation. It is only at this stage that we decide which route is best suited. This assessment is taken care of and we tend as much as possible towards free service. In Grand Angoulême for example, the practice costs 10 euros for three months. Some mutual insurance companies can nevertheless reimburse if there is a prescription.
What does this mean for patients?
We are the tobacco specialists of physical activity. When someone decides to quit smoking, they can do it overnight but often need support. For us, it's the same thing. When a doctor tells his patient to resume physical activity and sends us the questionnaire, it is easier for us to convince him. If one person starts, most of the time we manage to hook them.
“Before, you could have a heart attack at 55, now it’s sometimes as early as 35. »
Conference on the theme: “Sport: natural medicine for the body and mind” organized by the municipal sports office Thursday December 5 at 6:30 p.m. in the Crown village hall. Free entry. Interventions by Dorian Bercheny (host and sports commentator); Thibaud Delaunay (mental trainer); Nicolas Epinoux (teacher-researcher at INSPE); Julie Rigault Chupin (archer who competed in the Paralympic Games) and Pierrick Hervéou (Peps coordinator).
