“When I see her, I feel great!” jokes Patrick, 71. Next to him, Karima smiles and, very quickly, the conversation takes on a light-hearted tone. That morning, as she does regularly, this mediator from the Dunes association (Urban Development of New Social Spaces) came to pay a courtesy visit, with her two colleagues Zinédine and Tidjara, to some of the seniors of the Michelis estate (10th).
A kind word, a coffee, a paper to fill out, a referral to the social worker… For three years, the association has been experimenting with an innovative social mediation system “M2S” for seniors in three working-class neighborhoods: Michelis, Saint-Thys (10th) and Eugène Pottier (3rd). The goal: to identify risky situations as early as possible, in order to direct the elderly and their caregivers to ad hoc systems and thus allow them to stay at home for as long as possible, in the best possible conditions.
“I’m keeping myself busy, I’m feeling better”
“Most of the systems dedicated to seniors follow a one-stop shop logic, but the latter are often unaware of them, or even do not dare to ask for them, notes Nourredine Bougrhine, the director of Dunes. Very often, they only benefit from them after having encountered a problem, a fall for example which led them to the emergency room.“Isolated, sometimes reluctant to leave their homes, seniors were until then “a hole in the racket“, recognizes Nourredine Bougrhine: “We had many facilities in the neighborhoods for young people, but nothing for seniors.“.
Initially, the team of seven dedicated mediators had to carry out a long process of identifying people in difficulty.With the elderly, the door-to-door that we usually do does not work, they stay at home, they do not open the door for us, explains Inès Ben Moussa, social mediator. We therefore carried out work in partnership with donors to identify risk situations in advance.“.
This is how Karima, then Zinédine, met Patrick.At the time, I had just lost my partner, I was disoriented, depressed, I stayed locked up at home, explains this jovial man. They came to visit me. At first, we played little games, we drank coffee, we chatted… For me, it is above all a presence“.
Over the course of his meetings, this retired industrial designer has regained his taste for life: “They put me in contact with the tenants’ association, and now I’m in protection associations in the Huveaune valley, I help with homework… I’m busy, it’s okay better“.
Patrick is now one of Michelis’s essential figures and in turn directs the mediators towards people in difficulty. That day, for example, he forwarded them the request for a personalized autonomy allowance (APA) from one of his neighbors. A few minutes later, there he was chatting with his neighbors, at the foot of the buildings. An elderly gentleman came to greet him and commented, pointing at the mediators: “They are doing a good job here“.
Thanks to them, this man who was struggling to make ends meet with his small pension found “a caring grandpa’s job“at the end of the school, just behind his house. On his balcony, Eric, 64, another beneficiary, invites the mediators to come up.”We met in 2021. I had just retired. They helped me a lot with administrative procedures. We immediately had good contact, it makes me feel good every time I see them“.
Isolation, renunciation of care, unsuitable housing, financial insecurity, electronics, mobility problems, difficulties in accessing public services… The problems encountered are multiple. “We are link weaverssummarizes Inès Ben Moussa. We do not solve problems alone, we are at the interface of seniors and the different actors of the institutional system“. Closely followed by social mediation players in France, the system has just been the subject of an evaluation by France Médiation, the benchmark player in social mediation, and could be duplicated in other cities .
One of the strengths of the system, believes France Médiation, lies in the “strengthening of the partnership network“, whether with dedicated local reception centers such as the Maisons de la Solidarité (MDS), senior clubs and Maisons du Bel Âge, or with social support partners such as the Municipal Social Action Center (CCAS), mutual aid associations, landlords, etc.
If the experiment in these three districts ends this month, it should nevertheless continue.with a mediator who will continue to rotate and a relay via associations or social centers“, specifies the director of Dunes. Since May, three new Marseille districts have benefited from “M2S”: Clovis Hugues (3rd), Valplan (13th) and Consolat (15th). To date, nearly 200 people have already been supported by the mediators of the Dunes association.
