“We don’t impose anything: we discuss it with her, and she determines what suits her best.”
Collaborating with the persons accompanied
It’s so obvious that we could almost forget it: the very first collaboration is the one that unites the workers and the person accompanied. Andréanne, a nurse on the mobile clinic and partner of Farin, a peer support worker in harm reduction, explains that the care protocol is decided by the three of them. “We talk to each other, we present two or three options to the person: it’s often a mix of what one and the other had in mind. Then, we don’t impose anything: we discuss it with her, and she determines what suits her best.” Care becomes “a discussion” in which the persons primarily concerned have their say: an asset for regaining confidence and reclaiming power over the situation.
Collaborating with the health system
Another collaboration that makes as much sense as the first: the one that brings Médecins du Monde closer to the actors in the health system. When he explains it, Farin refers to this “mandate” that consists of “creating access points” between worlds that know and understand each other poorly: people living in the “street culture” on one side, and medicine on the other. Mathieu and Lucie-Catherine, who accompany Indigenous persons, echo this sentiment. Together, the duo tries to “rebuild trusting relationships” between “traumatized communities and hospital services.”
“The more we work together, the more the bond of trust strengthens, and the more we become allies.”
Collaborating with community organizations
The connections our teams create don’t stop there. They extend to community organizations, other key players in the support network for Médecins du Monde’s users. There, our psychotherapists offer workers a space to step back from the sometimes challenging situations they witness. Pierre, who developed our psychotherapy services for workers, sums it up: “the original spirit was to take care of those who take care of others.”
“The more we work together, the more the bond of trust strengthens, and the more we become allies,” concludes Mathieu. Teamwork, we tell you.