Les équipes de liaison en Addictologie ont pour mission la sensibilisation des personnels hospitaliers, en vue d’une meilleure prise en charge des patients souffrant d’addictions. Ce travail auprès des soignants se traduit rarement par des actions formalisées de formation ; il se réalise plutôt à l’occasion des contacts quotidiens, pour peu qu’elles y soient attentives. Il apparaît aussi important que le soin donné aux patients hospitalisés. C’est un véritable savoir-faire, qu’il s’agit ici d’explorer. Le partenariat, construit au rythme des interventions dans les services, nécessite, de la part de l’équipe, une capacité à écouter où se situent les difficultés des soignants, au-delà de leur demande exprimée, à transmettre les concepts et outils addictologiques utiles, à construire ensemble une réflexion commune et une pratique spécifique, tout en s’inscrivant dans une logique de réseau, pour apporter le soin adapté aux patients souffrant d’addiction.

Addictology needs the involvement of primary care professionals, but reality is far from this will. To resolve this problem, liaison-teams have been created in the hospitals two decades ago. Training and support of caregivers is their first mission, although not obvious because they are called usually to cure the most complex addict patients. Our aim is to describe what kind of relationship they build, when they are called to meet a patient, to improve the hospital caregivers’ implication in addictology care.

This study is based on the practice of a liaison-team working in a universitary hospital, including emergency, medicine, surgery and obstetrical units, and called for every kind of addictions, except tobacco when used alone.

An attention is first devoted to caregivers, who can be in difficulty because of partial or false representations of addiction and its care, or because of their personal experience of addiction. The team has to meet them regularly, to take time to think together. It promotes an interdisciplinary approach, which gives every kind of profession a position in the care of addiction. It stands back their request, to understand where their difficulties are and give an adequate answer. Second, in front of patients with whom the relation is complex, the liaison-team has to boost the self confidence of the caregivers in their ability to care for them: some simple tools and technics can be given, and new others can be built together when necessary. It pays attention to the articulation between hospital acute treatment and long-term follow-up. Third the liaison-team works in a dynamics of network, which promotes cooperation rather than separation and split.

This study invites for more research on the link between addictologic network and primary care providers, and the way to develop it.