Marseille 2007
Marseille 2007
Abstract book
Go Back

Abstract #355  -  Parcours de soin", or rather, the experience of socially, economically and/or psychologically vulnerable people living with HIV/AIDS in the Brussels region in resorting to the social and healthcare infrastructures available to them.
Session:
  26.32: Posters B (Poster) on Tuesday   in  Chaired by
Authors:
  Presenting Author:   Ms Maguelone Vignes - Facults Universitaires Saint-Louis, Belgium
 
  Additional Authors:   
Aim:
The presentation will provide the preliminary results of a research carried out in Brussels, Belgium, on the individual experiences lived by people affected by HIV/AIDS, with a particular socio-economic, psychological and/or emotional vulnerability. The notion of "parcours de soin" is introduced here to refer to the progressive steps undertaken by the patient in his illness experience whilst taking into account his lifespan, social trajectory and the impact of any social and healthcare support system the patient may resort to.
 
Method / Issue:
Typically, a "parcours de soin" will see the patient undertake a long and complex trajectory across a variety of institutions and actors, be it general practitioners and specialized doctors operating in hospitals, alternative or complementary medical practitioners, psychologists, social workers, self-help associations, or organisations working on issues such as immigration, housing, prostitution, homosexuality, juridical support, mental health, etc. The main hypothesis of our research is that without a continuous social support, a continuum in medical care cannot be reached. It is therefore assumed that public policies play an important role in the social integration/exclusion processes experienced by the patients since they will determine, to a great extent, the level of cohesion between social assistance and the physical/mental healthcare infrastructure. The presentation provides some of the preliminary results extracted from the analysis of two sets of interviews conducted with (i) people living with HIV/AIDS and (ii) with the various social and health care practitioners operating in the Brussels region.
 
Results / Comments:
The presentation illustrates the findings obtained during the first phase of a four-year research programme, funded by the Brussels-Capital Region, through the Prospective Research For Brussels programme. By making use of the notion of "parcours de soin" and by exploring the relationship between the subjects investigated, and public services available to them, our research aims at studying the use of the existing social assistance and healthcare structures and the way in which the two co-exist and might synergise.
 
Discussion:
The presentation aims at providing insight to some of the "parcours de soin" identified and studied by looking at the extent to which such services are offered to people living with HIV/AIDS and by focusing on (a) the use that is made of such services by the patients, (b) the degree of coordination between the social care and physical/mental healthcare practitioners in orienting the patient through such services, (c) the interconnection between the social trajectory, the lifespan events and the illness trajectory of the patients sampled, and (d) the identification of the formal and informal networks between the health and social practitioners.
 
Go Back

  Disclaimer   |   T's & C's   |   Copyright Notice    www.AIDSImpact.com www.AIDSImpact.com