People diagnosed with a primary immunodeficiency (PID) under follow-up in the Infectious Diseases Service of the Germans Trias Hospital now have a psychosocial care service thanks to the collaboration between the center and the Barcelona Foundation for Primary Immunodeficiencies in Pediatrics (BCN- PID Foundation).
This is the ‘I have a PID. I’m older and I’m not alone”, which the Foundation carries out with the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute and which was launched in this center a couple of years ago. Later, following a line of growth, the Bellvitge Hospital and the Hospital del Mar joined and now it is the turn of Germans Trias, who thanks to the program will offer telematic sessions to improve the emotional well-being of adult patients with PID and their families, offering specialized psychological support within the framework of multidisciplinary assistance.
Specifically, the sessions are held with a frequency adapted to the needs of each person and in a space that facilitates communication and understanding of the patient’s experience, guiding them in the development of strategies to confront the disease. In this way, “the aim is to improve the quality of life of the affected people and enable them to have an optimal level of autonomy,” explains Sònia Rodríguez, general health psychologist at the BCN-PID Foundation and member of the IDP committee at the Vall d’Hospital. Hebron, project coordinating center.
For Lluïsa Pedro-Botet, doctor at the Germans Trias Hospital and researcher at the Fight Infections Foundation, having a specific psychosocial care service for patients affected by a primary immunodeficiency “is essential to ensure comprehensive management of these people,” who often have other health problems associated with their immunodeficiency and which can, at times, significantly limit their quality of life.
Increase self-esteem and control emotions
The biopsychosocial approach to PID proposed by this initiative allows for improvements in the quality of life of patients, as well as in the acceptance and coping with the diagnosis and the acquisition of greater autonomy and ease of adaptation to the situation. It also provides them with coping tools to help them be more effective in terms of decisions they must make or complications that may arise. At the same time, it increases self-esteem and control of symptoms and emotions and prevents possible mood disorders.
The program, which is a pioneer in multidisciplinary care specialized in PID and which has so far served more than 120 people, including patients and family members, is possible thanks to the collaboration of the Catalan Association of Primary Immune Deficiencies (ACADIP) and the support of Grifols.
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