The Appui santé en Cornouaille association, created in 2018 and financed by the Regional Health Agency (ARS), is piloting a project entitled Action prevention after cancer (Apac). Why did it come into being?
“It’s a response to a territorial need, but which is even a national need. Patients coming out of extensive treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy) sometimes find themselves a little alone. Because the home nurse will no longer come, because medical appointments will become less frequent, because there will no longer be contact with other chemotherapy patients… At the end of an illness, there is therefore an interstellar void. »
How can the Apac system remedy this?
“During treatment, supportive oncological care is offered to the patient. But in the post-cancer period, there was nothing. A national decree therefore proposes for €180 to provide patients with an adapted physical activity assessment; a psychological assessment; and a dietary and nutritional assessment. For the application of this decree, the ARS produced calls for projects, to which we responded [en partenariat avec tous les acteurs, publics et privés, du territoire, ndlr] The project was validated in July 2024 for one year. The envelope is €12,000. »
Who can benefit from it?
“The patient must be an adult, having finished their so-called “heavy” treatments less than a year ago. He may be on hormonal therapy or immunotherapy. He will then send us a medical prescription. The course coordinator will then carry out an assessment with the patient, to determine their needs and assess the situation in which they find themselves. And she will offer him a list of service providers agreed with the association, who are located near the home… The strength of the project is the support: they do not stay alone. »
What can this €180 cover?
“For example, with this envelope, a patient can do an adapted physical activity assessment and up to thirteen sessions. He can also make the three assessments; three psychological consultations; a dietary consultation and three follow-ups… With our partners, and using local resources, we manage to make average envelopes of €150. »
In three years, we had 310 patients. 75% of them are women, but there are more and more men.
“For this first project, we were a little ambitious about the number of patients to include. We had more funding than our needs (€45,000). As we had one of the most dynamic projects in Brittany, the ARS authorized us to continue until the funding ran out. We finished in June 2024.
In three years, we had 310 patients. 75% of them are women, but there are more and more men. There are a lot of breast cancers, but it is also evolving more and more, towards different pathologies (digestive cancers, etc.). The patients ranged in age from 33 to 84 years, with an average age of 60 years. »
Practical
Health support in Cornwall: tel. 02 98 90 20 96; mel. [email protected]. Website supportsantecornouaille.fr.
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