Article original/Original article Éducation des familles à « Porter Soins et Secours » : un nouveau concept dans le champ de l'éducation en santé

Education of families to "Bring Care and Aid" a new concept in the field of education for health. Introduction: Because of the actual limitations in accessibility and continuity of care on the part of the Health services, the family has, nowadays, to reinvest in the health conditions of his members and to develop the corresponding competencies. The "Education to Care and Aid" (ECA), is a new concept concerning the field of prevention, care and first aid. Such education should enable the family members to ensure the daily assistance at home, as well as to manage emergencies and particular situations (natural disasters, epidemics. ..) .Objective: To evaluate (among a sample of French families) the relevance and feasibility of ECA. Methods: A national questionnaire-survey has been carried out among members of the French National Union of Family Associations. Results: Six hundred and sixty-nine families answered to the questionnaire. The results indicate that 72.4% of the families acknowledge the need to be trained in the field of ECA and consider the following topics as priorities: "training in lifesaving" (95.3%), "manage an emergency" (94%), "identify emergency situations" (90.9%), "avoid accidents at home" (76.9%), "manage babies" and children s'health problems' (67.7%), "be attentive to the health of old parents" (66.8%). According to these families, the training programmes should be organized at community level, be given by health professionals and last half a day to two days.