The space is light, airy, a small gray sofa installed in the entrance hall brings a touch of design to the candor of the place, the half-open doors draw the eye towards the association’s leisure workshop rooms… The decor is set. The simplicity of the place is obvious, but the layout is comfortable enough for members to feel “at home”.
Unoccupied on this Tuesday morning reserved for administrative tasks, the premises located at 48 boulevard de la Liberté in Draguignan are home to the Mutual Aid Group: “A storytelling workshop will be held in the afternoon, six people have already registered and will be able to participate” explains Johanna Bolle, socio-cultural facilitator of the Dracénoise branch since its opening in October 2021. Under the management of the Association of families of cranial and cerebral trauma victims of the Var (AFTC) and sponsored by the latter, the association GEM Inceptio is subsidized by the Regional Health Agency (ARS).
It works to prevent the social exclusion of people in very vulnerable situations.
A new way of life
The organization is a tool for integration into the city and aims to establish actions to fight against the isolation of patients, when the disability affects autonomy. “Our mission is to defend the material and moral interests of people with mild head and brain injuries.“, decrypts Marion Morel, director of the AFTC du Var, whose headquarters are located in Hyères. “We offer them a life course without disruptions and without isolation as soon as they leave the hospital or the rehabilitation center. We also have a very important role in supporting the families of our members”.
A precious aid therefore, reserved for victims of brain tumours, strokes, traumatic shocks or even anoxia, a reduction in oxygenation of the brain.
“We collaborate with health professionals. People with acquired brain damage can no longer work again, they need to have lives adapted to their pathologies”, details the manager of the association.
Jennifer Saïb, deputy director of the AFTC, underlines how much the proposed support is necessary “to the development of fine motor skills and memory, it promotes empowerment until personal fulfillment is achieved”.
“You must never stop motivating them”
Like its branch in Hyères, the GEM in Draguignan welcomes adults of all ages. “We already have about twenty registered people, including people from Dracéniens but also people from Thoronet and Fréjus. We provide them with several daily activities”explains Johanna Bolle, this can range from creative leisure to reading time.
“We also organize walks in Dracénie and musical entertainment. This was the case, for example, on Tuesday March 1 with the voluntary presence of the singer from Dracénie Yvan, outside contributors are welcome, it enriches us!” If the activities are varied, they can only take place in the presence of a companion or a carer:
“We have a role of social support for the patient and respite solution for the caregiver, specifies the Dracénoise facilitator, I am here to make my members smile, to bring them back to life, they have a complicated ordinary, their daily life is punctuated by care”.
Open to all without distinction, the structure welcomes beneficiaries from Monday to Friday, and sometimes even on Saturday morning during a walk on the Draguignan market.
Depending on the needs, the facilitator can also travel to the patient’s home. As for the qualities required to assume such functions, the one who dropped out of her nursing studies explains them in a soothing tone: “You have to listen, have empathy because they tell us about their lives, they are our driving force… But you must never stop motivating them.”
“We are their second wind!“, concludes Johanna.
Every year in France, 155,000 people suffer a head injury, 8,400 of which are serious. Among them, 4,000 remain severely disabled.
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