Inauguration of SimuSenior: a new simulation space at the Albert-Chenevier hospital
On Thursday October 10, 2024, Paris-Est Créteil University (UPEC), the campus of professions and qualifications of excellence – health, autonomy, aging well in Île-de-France and the GHU AP-HP. Mondor have inaugurated SimuSenior, a space dedicated to training in care for the elderly. Installed at the Albert-Chenevier hospital, in the immediate vicinity of healthcare services, SimuSenior is the first simulation space dedicated to aging in France. It aims to train healthcare professionals differently, whatever their level of qualification.
Train differently for better care
Jobs related to aging require specific skills that are acquired through practice. SimuSenior allows professionals to train through realistic scenarios, in order to improve their understanding of the profession and their reflection on their practices. This space is aimed at both initial training and continuing training for all those involved in prevention and care of the elderly. It is based on the motto: “Never the first time on the patient.” »
Professor Marie Laurent, head of the geriatrics department at Henri-Mondor and Albert-Chenevier hospitals and scientific and educational manager of SimuSenior, explains: “It is a doctrine widely used in medicine and during paramedical studies for all technical procedures such as blood tests, lumbar punctures. This should also be the case for less technical but essential acts such as communication with patients. Because this is what patients and their families remember after a consultation, a hospitalization or the visit of their loved one in an EHPAD. Interprofessional communication is essential for those working with elderly people. » Before continuing: “The use of simulators in our SimuSenior space can also help to become aware of the difficulties and disabilities that elderly people may experience. It must be accompanied by a message of prevention: it is possible to do things at any age to limit the disabilities linked to aging. »
Equipment for immersive training that strengthens the GHU AP-HP simulation offering. Mondor
SimuSenior is made up of three spaces: a consultation room, a hospital room and a simulated home. These spaces allow students to practice care in conditions very close to reality. The equipment notably includes an articulated mannequin for technical gestures and a high-fidelity mannequin which very realistically imitates an elderly person, down to their appearance, weight and mobility.
Alexandra Laurent, educational engineer at the careers campus, emphasizes: “The articulated mannequin is highly recommended for training on technical gestures such as placing a probe. The high-fidelity mannequin, for its part, perfectly reproduces the appearance of an elderly person in terms of aesthetics, anatomy, touch sensation, weight and center of gravity. It is perfect for immersing yourself in a larger-than-life scenario including, for example, the fall of an elderly person. »
Discuss practices
A debriefing room then allows students to discuss the practices observed and experienced.
As a reminder, Laurent Cathala, Nicolas Revel, UPEC and the Henri-Mondor hospital teams inaugurated, in April 2023, Studiosim, a simulation center of nearly 300 m2, located within the establishment intended training in urgent and intensive medical care for medical students, nursing students, medical and paramedical staff.
These two simulation platforms thus place AP-HP, GHU Mondor and UPEC as leading players in simulation training. They are also important levers for loyalty and attractiveness for caregivers.
SimuSénior was inaugurated by Professor Marie Laurent, head of the geriatrics department of the Henri-Mondor and Albert-Chenevier hospitals, scientific and educational manager of the center, Edith Benmansour, director of the GHU AP-HP. Mondor, Laurent Cathala, mayor of CreteilProfessor Pierre Wolkenstein, dean of the Faculty of Health of UPEC and Professor Jean-Luc Dubois-Randé, president of UPEC who concludes: “We hope that other projects of this type will see the light of day, because Health simulation is a valuable educational tool, particularly for training in professions related to loss of autonomy and support for the elderly. “.
