[Usefulness of social and educational approach in adolescents and young adults with cancer: The Lille team's experience]

Abstract

Within the second "Cancer plan" 2009-2013, the French national institute of cancer (INCa) recommended the implementation of programs dedicated to adolescents and youngs adults (AYA) with cancer. In this context and in parallel to the specific medical care developed for AYA, the Oscar-Lambret center created a psycho-social-educational team including among others a social worker (SW) and a special educational teacher (SET), offering multidisciplinary qualifications and views. The social approach, realized as a pair by SW-SET, takes into account every aspect of each AYA (family, academic, career/professional, personal, cultural aspects…). We expose the first 2 years' experience of this special program for AYA through diagnosis to remission time. For this period, 164 AYA were seen by the social professionals, with a total of 602 consultations in the unit. The number of these consultations depended on the needs of AYA and their family. Nevertheless, only 10 AYA required no further intervention (6.1 %). The study highlights that the social interventions are most frequently about scolarity, work and disability recognition. These 2 years of experience of the SW-SET team offered a way to reflect upon our values and our culture, and on the role of the social worker in a medical setting. Each AYA has a personal story, which affects significantly the way to overcome the challenges that come with the disease. Our findings underscore the need for AYA with cancer to have access to personalized supportive care, encouraging them in pursing their personal goals and rewarding themselves.

Keywords: Adolescents jeunes adultes AJA; Adolescents young adults AYA; Cancer; Disability; Handicap; Insertion; School; Scolarité; Social work; Travail social; Work.