For Sylvie Jouêtre, head of Solidarité Anorexie Boulimie 22 (SAB 22), eating disorders (TCA) are “still very little known”. However, they affect nearly a million people in France. And to optimize the care pathway, “we cannot do without a specialized and multidisciplinary offer,” she insisted last March. “We must take care of the body, the head, the plate.”
Until the beginning of June, Côtes-d’Armor was without it. “When parents want to take care of their teenagers, they have to go elsewhere. They are refused in Rennes, because they are outside the sector, or find themselves on waiting lists of six months or a year in private establishments,” explained the president of SAB 22, herself the mother of someone who has been ill for twenty five years. “At the time, it was handled very poorly, there were no trained therapists. It took a while and the illness became chronic.” But almost a month ago, the Saint-Jean de Dieu Foundation hospital center inaugurated, in partnership with the association, a consultation space for TCA.
Great wait
A care offer intended for all Briochin (or residents of the municipalities of Plérin, Langueux, Trégueux and Ploufragan) aged 18 and over, suffering from anorexia, bulimia or hyperphagia. People must be referred by a treating physician and have a BMI of at least 15. “There are two facets to treat in the context of the pathology,” explains Brigitte Rivière, general practitioner and addictologist, trained at TCA. The physical impact, which requires somatic care and psychotherapeutic support. We are focusing on this second part.”
“A victory”, for Sylvie Jouêtre while the project, in the works since 2017, had been largely slowed down by the health crisis. “Obviously, we cried about it. I said we’d pay for the champagne, you’ll have it soon! », smiles the president of SAB 22. Who evokes a “great expectation of patients and loved ones”. Installed within the Saint-Benoît Menni medical-psychological center, this space is also intended to be accessible to those close to patients.
First stone
Individual interviews or workshops are offered, carried out by specialized and varied professionals: addictologist, psychiatrist, psychologist, neuropsychologist, psychomotor therapist, nurse, dietician, social worker and family therapist. The project was able to benefit from experimental funding over three years. “We have relatively limited resources today,” points out Brigitte Rivière. So, the opening of this consultation space appears to be a “first stone” in the overall management of the pathology.
“The goal is for the treatment proposal to be as effective as possible right away, but we are still at the start,” the doctor continues. And while it raises “a lot of hope,” this opening will undoubtedly generate “a little frustration.” The number of ED detections has exploded since Covid and not all patients will be able to access the system. At least initially. “When we move to Rue des Gallois by the end of the year, we will lower the age to 16, for example. We are doing this gradually.”
Practical
8, rue Charles-Pradal, in Saint-Brieuc. Contact by tel. 02 96 77 25 13.
