L'OASIS

The Oasis opened in May 2011. It is a unique experience in France, managed by the Red Cross in partnership with Children-Do, a mobile paediatric palliative care team from the Toulouse CHU. It is intended for terminally ill children and their families. This "respite house" is actually an intermediate structure between the house and the hospital. Very little médicalisée, it still helps to treat pain or monitor the evolution of the disease. She can welcome children several weeks or months with their parents, their brothers and sisters (about 40 to 60 children with their relatives per year). During this time, families can breathe a little and devote themselves fully to their child without thinking about care and other daily constraints. A paramedic and psycho-social team (doctors, nurses, psychologists, etc.) is at their disposal but the white coat, which reminds the hospital too much, is banned. The house has only 4 rooms, a family suite, a play and reading room, a living room, a patio covered with synthetic grass, a kitchen and a dining room. This is a three-year experimental approach resulting from the Palliative Care 2008-2012 Plan. If experience proved successful, it could be developed throughout the territory.