In France, an “independent” association to fuel the debate on nursing homes
An elderly resident of a retirement home walks with an employee of the "Pays Vert" public nursing home in Mauriac, central France, on March 23, 2022. AFP - THIERRY ZOCCOLAN
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
An “Observatory of the great age” (Ogra) has just been born in France, in the wake of the scandal of the accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people (Ehpad) private Orpea and Korian.
The association, in which lawyers, nursing home employees, journalists and architects meet, wants to participate in the debate on autonomy policies for the elderly.
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It is Laurent Garcia, health executive in a public Ehpad and whistleblower at the origin of the investigation into the group of retirement homes Orpea, who launched this Friday an "Observatory of old age" (Ogra) sponsored by investigative journalists Victor Castanet and Florence Aubenas.
The association wants to be "
the pebble in the shoe
", the "
itchy hair
" that will help keep the issue of nursing homes and old age in the public debate after the publication in January of the book-investigation
Les Fossoyeurs
by Victor Castanet on the private group Orpea.
“
independent
” association
This "
independent
" association wants to feed the debate on old age by publishing a report each year in December, fueled by "
interviews
" carried out in particular in nursing homes "
which will open their doors
to them ", with residents, their families, caregivers or responsible, explained Laurent Garcia during a press conference in Paris attended by AFP.
A place where we meet eyes
Aurélie Aulagnon is a member of the executive office of the Observatory of the Great Age.
She details at the microphone of Stéphane Duguet the objectives of the association which are intended to be constructive.
"
The objective of the Ogra is to be a relay, an observatory, a place where we meet eyes, where we can make proposals, proposals that come from the field, but from the field of on the part of families, on the part of caregivers, nursing home management, groups and anyone in fact who is in a position, legitimately to question the policies of old age, and to be able to really continue to ensure that this theme, this problem that affects us all, is really permanently in our heads.
»
Bringing up good practices
She will also be interested in the home help sector supporting dependent elderly people, said Mr. Garcia, who worked eight months at the Orpea
Bords de Seine
nursing home in Neuilly-sur-Seine, where he started Victor Castanet's investigation.
"
There have been a lot of complaints since the release of the book, including against caregivers
," said Mr. Garcia, who also wants to "
bring up good practices
" and bring "
appeasement
".
A desire confirmed by Aurélie Aulagnon to our journalist Stéphane Duguet: “
The nursing home is a system, we need it.
Anyway, we know it very well, the Ehpad has its place when you have cognitive disorders, when you have a dependency that is much more advanced.
(…) We don't want to bashing nursing homes
[denigration of nursing homes, editor's note]
, on the contrary.
(…) There are other associations which have this role, at least relaying really pure and hard mistreatment.
But we refuse to do that.
On the contrary, we are still supporting nursing homes.
We also have this role of relaying positive mechanisms, of things that are being created, of this role, of transmitting information, because, yes, there is institutional mistreatment, but there are also things extraordinary things that happen in nursing homes
”.
To respond to the turmoil aroused by the publication of Les
Fossoyeurs
, the government announced at the beginning of March that the 7,500 nursing homes in France would be checked within two years.
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