A Multidisciplinary Care Center
The Primo Levi Centre welcomes people who have suffered torture or political violence in their country of origin exiled to France, regardless of their administrative status. The care offered, lasting an average of three years, is multidisciplinary, respecting the patient’s wishes and the pace and limits of their integration in France. Medical and physiotherapeutic care, psychotherapeutic work, social support, and legal assistance are interlinked and function in a dynamic space. The intake interview is an integral part of the care provided.
Patients mainly receive medical care (78% of patients) and/or psychological support (70%). More than half of patients (56%) contact the social services department and 40% the legal department. Around 4% of patients receive physiotherapy. 70% of follow-up services are “multiple,” typically involving 2 to 4 professionals working on the same case.
Using Interpreters
Welcoming people and their suffering also means respecting their languages. Therefore, consultations are held in the patient’s preferred language as much as possible. Some foreign languages are spoken fluently by the center’s clinicians and in other cases, professional interpreters are used. In the same vein, the center ensures that all patients will be assigned a single, consistent interpreter who will work with them across their care services. In the case of a family, a different interpreter is provided to each member for their individual treatment.
The Children and Youth Center
In 1999, a space was created for unaccompanied children and minors offering them more specialized treatment. Priority is given to them during the admission process and they are offered a specific consultation request form. Unaccompanied minors are seen directly by a psychologist without an intake interview. This specific care, which most often responds to situations that are particularly painful for the young people concerned, is provided in close collaboration with external institutions: child welfare, schools, reception centers for asylum seekers and the Centre médico-psycho-pédagogique (CMPP), with which the Primo Levi Centre is well identified.
