The Govern promotes a pioneering project to accompany traffic victims with severe sequelae

There is a before and an after in the life of a person who has suffered a serious traffic accident with permanent sequels. For the first time, the Departament d’Interior, in coordination with the ‘conselleria’ de Drets Socials, will accompany these victims and their families in a pioneering program, known as ‘Invictes’. The new service aims to promote personal autonomy and independent living. of severely injured traffic victims with disabilities, as well as helping their families to cope with the new stage.

The ‘conseller’ of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, sees a service like this as essential, because “the victims of traffic accidents are our responsibilityas well as the aftermath and the consequences that derive from it”. For his part, the ‘conseller’ of Social Rights, Carles Campuzano, has highlighted the fact that social policies are not exclusive to the department he heads.but of the Govern as a whole, and “this is a very good example”.

Accompanying victims and relatives

The objective of ‘Invictes’ is to help recover the personal autonomy and independent living of traffic victims, who have been left in a situation of disability. We also want to accompany the family so that they accept and know how to give an adequate response to the limitations resulting from the sequelae, disabilities and permanent or temporary difficulties of their family member. And, finally, to work with the social environment of the affected person to promote their inclusion, recognition and personal worth with all their abilities and limitations as a result of the traffic accident.

According to the head of Drets Socials, it is about. an innovative program, in alliance with the entities and, therefore, “made from the efficiency, proximity and warmth that characterizes the third social sector, since the organizations are driven, for the most part, by the same people with disabilities and their families”.

Service offered by social entities in the territory.

The service has been in operation since this January and is provided by five social entities throughout the country, coordinated by the private foundation ECOM, with a budget of around 650,000 €. The multidisciplinary team is made up by two professionals in the field of social interventionsuch as social workers, psychologists, social educators or occupational therapists; and by a coordinator.

The project will serve so that “victims return to being autonomous individuals according to Viviana Bendicho, of ECOM, a federation that brings together more than 120 organizations that have been working for years to defend the rights of people with physical and/or organic disabilities.

On the other hand, Lourdes Andreu, from the Associació Catalana de Traumatismes Cranioencefàlics i Dany Cerebral (TRACE), reminds that ‘Invictes’ is a question of. rights long claimed by the serious traffic victims, by their families and by all the associations that have represented them”.

How can ‘Invictes’ help?

Among other functions, ‘Invictes’ will coordinate with the Servei d’Informació i Atenció a les Víctimes d’Accidents de Trànsit (SIAVT), with the associations of traffic accident victims and with the medical services of reference in the different territorial areas.

In addition, it will elaborate a report of the needs of the seriously injured person and an itinerary for autonomous and independent living. The service will also provide information and guidance to the victim and her family for the new situation as a person with a disability: procedures to be carried out, existing benefits and resources, financial orientation and information, or advice on how to adapt the housing environment, in terms of architectural and communication barriers.

In short, the project defines three areas of action. On the one hand, the more personal environment The first is to help the victim recover his or her emotional state, autonomy and life plan. Secondly, the family environmentwith special attention to caregivers, in order to provide them with knowledge and skills for caregiving activities and tasks. And the social environment with which the person with sequelae interacts in order to achieve a integrating and inclusive environment.